Cardinal Bafile, oldest cardinal, dies at 101

Corrado Cardinal Bafile †

Function: Prefect Emeritus of Causes of Saints, Roman Curia

Title: Cardinal Priest of St Mary in Portico

Birthdate: Jul 04, 1903	Country: Italy

Elevated: May 24, 1976	More information: www.catholic-hierarchy.org

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Cardinal Bafile, oldest cardinal, dies at 101
Feb 05, 2005

Rome, Feb. 04 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Corrado Bafile, the oldest member of the College of Cardinals, died on February 3 at the age of 101.

Born on July 4, 1903, Corrado Bafile entered the seminary after a brief legal career, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Aquila, Italy, in 1936. He entered the Vatican diplomatic service in 1939, serving in several sensitive posts; he represented the Holy See in Budapest in 1956, during the Hungarian uprising, and in Berlin in the early 1960s, during the construction of the Berlin Wall. He was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI In 1976, and served as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints until his retirement in 1980.

Pope John Paul paid his respected to the deceased cardinal, describing him as a "dear brother who spent his whole life for the cause of the Gospel, for the good of the Church, and in the service of the Holy See." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (bio - news), the dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at funeral services in the Vatican basilica on February 5.

With the death of Cardinal Basile, the oldest members of the College of Cardinals are now the Dutch Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, who is 95, and Austrian Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler, who is 94. The youngest are Cardinal Peter Erdö of Budapest, who is 52; and Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France, who is 54.

There are now 183 members of the College of Cardinals, including 119 who are eligible to vote in a papal conclave. Of these, 169 of the cardinals, and 116 of the cardinal-electors, have been named by Pope John Paul II.

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