Top Ten Catholics of 2002



Inside the Vatican magazine names Top 10 Catholics for 2002





The Top 3:



Heading the list is Monsignor Luigi Giussani, 80, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement. According to the January issue of the magazine, he "has inspired thousands with a desire to seek Jesus Christ as the 'ultimate meaning' of their lives."



Belorussian Catholic journalist Viktor Taresevich is in the second place, brutally killed in Poland last February by unknown assailants, after having purchased a car together with his brother (also killed) in Germany. He founded the Russian ecumenical news agency Blagovest Info.



According to Inside the Vatican, Taresevich was much appreciated by Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants in Russia. At 39, he left his widow, Lyudmila, and three children.



In third place is the new Genoa Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, 69. The magazine mentions the importance of the documents Monsignor Bertone signed over the past seven years as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.



The Rest:



* Sister Callista Cozzi, Comboni missionary in Sudan

* Antonia Willemsen, secretary-general of Aid to the Church in Need

* Sister Margherita Marchione, 81, leading scholar on the life of Pope Pius XII

* Cardinal François Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, late president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

* Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, new president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

* Thomas Monaghan, US Catholic millionaire benefactor who founded the Dominos Pizza chain

* Bishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary of John Paul II