Pope pays tribute to Cardinal Karlic, who helped draft catechism

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Argentine Cardinal Estanislao Karlic, who died Aug. 8 at the age of 99, "devoted his life to the service of God and the church, bringing the light of the Gospel to various areas of life and culture," Pope Leo XIV said.

In a message of condolence to Archbishop Raúl Martín of Paraná, where Cardinal Karlic had served as archbishop for 17 years, the pope said the late cardinal "generously offered himself in service to the universal church, being one of the collaborators in the drafting of the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

Cardinal Karlic's death left the College of Cardinals with 248 members, 130 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave. Italian Cardinal Angelo Acerbi, a former papal diplomat whose 100th birthday is in late September, was the only cardinal older than Cardinal Karlic.

From 1986 to 1992, then-Archbishop Karlic was a member of the commission appointed by St. John Paul II to write the Catechism of the Catholic Church, working closely with the future Pope Benedict XVI, who headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the time.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1954, he taught in Argentina before being sent to Rome, where he earned a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1977, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Cordoba and in 1983 was named coadjutor archbishop of Parana, becoming head of the archdiocese three years later.

Along with then-Archbishop Francis E. George of Chicago, Archbishop Karlic served as co-secretary of the 1997 Synod of Bishops for America.

He retired in 2003, and Pope Benedict XIV made him a cardinal in 2007.