Pope Francis sends telegramme on death of Cardinal
Cottier
(Vatican Radio) Pope
Francis on Thursday sent a telegram expressing his condolences for the death of
Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier, OP, Theologian-emeritus of the Papal
Household.
Cardinal Cottier died during
Thursday night at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital at the age of 93.
In the telegram addressed to
Cardinal Cottier’s sister, the Holy Father conveyed his ‘profound gratitude’ in
remembrance of the Cardinal’s ‘strong faith, his paternal kindness, and his
intense cultural and ecclesial activity, especially in the service of Pope St.
John Paul II and Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI as theologian of the Papal
Household’.
Pope Francis also invoked the
intercession of the Virgin Mary and St. Dominic, sending his Apostolic Blessing
to all who knew Cardinal Cottier during the course of his long life.
Biography
Cardinal Georges Marie
Cottier, O.P., Theologian-emeritus of the Papal Household, died during the
night between 31 March and 1 April 2016 at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital.
The funeral Mass is to be
presided over by Cardinal Angelo Sodano at St. Peter’s Basilica on 2 April at
8.30 am.
Born 25 April 1922 in the
Carouge municipality of Ginevra, Switzerland, Dominican Cardinal Cottier served
as the Theologian of the Papal Household from 1990 until 2005.
Cardinal Cottier entered the
Dominican Order in 1945, studying philosophy and theology at the Pontifical
University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, also known as the ‘Angelicum’. He
was ordained a priest on 2 July 1951.
In 1959 he defended his
doctoral thesis at the Liberal Arts Faculty of the University of Ginevra on
‘The Atheism of the young Marx and his Hegelian origins. In 1962 he became a
professor at the same University until his retirement in 1987.
Cardinal Cottier also taught
courses in modern and contemporary philosophy at the Universities of Fribourg,
Montréal, and Padua, as well as at the Catholic Institute of Paris and the
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
He participated in the Second
Vatican Council as an ‘Expert of the Council’ and was a ‘Council Consultant’ in
the dialogue with non-believers, participating in a series of meetings in
Ljubljana, Budapest, Strasburg, and Moscow.
In an interview on the impact
of Vatican II, Cardinal Cottier once said, “I would say that much has been
done. For example, the structure of episcopal conferences; the way some of them
function now; or the dicasteries of the Church which didn’t exist before,
Christian union, dialogue with non-believers – all these are new things which
often function well. Also those areas that regard justice and peace – these
things didn’t exist before the Council, as well as concern for dialogue with
the world, the idea itself of the New Evangelization was born with the Council.
Also the Synod of Bishops and the doctrine itself of the last Popes, which have
as their no. 1 program the implementation of the Council.”
In 1986 he was nominated a
member of the International Theological Commission, becoming its Secretary in
1989.
Cardinal Cottier also served
as a consultant for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the
Pontifical Council for Culture.
He was consecrated Archbishop
on 20 October 2003 with the titular Church of Tullia and nominated Cardinal of
the Consistory by Pope St. John Paul II on 21 October 2003.
Below is a Vatican
Radio translation of Pope Francis' telegramme:
To Madame Marie Emmanuelle
PASTORE COTTIER
I have learned with sadness
the news of the passing of your brother, Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier,
O.P. I would like to express my deep involvement in the mourning which affects
everyone who knew this zealous servant of the Gospel. With profound gratitude,
I remember his strong faith, his paternal kindness, and his intense cultural
and ecclesial activity, especially in the service of Pope St. John Paul II and
Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI as Theologian of the Papal Household. I offer a
fervent prayer to the Lord, so that, through the intercession of the Virgin
Mary and St. Dominic, he may grant the late Cardinal the reward promised to his
faithful disciples. As a sign of comfort, I send my Apostolic Blessing with all
my heart to you, and to all who appreciated his priestly zeal and dedication to
the Church and to the Sovereign Pontiff.
Franciscus Pp.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét