Spanish cardinal who issued rules permitting altar girls dies
Feb 02, 2007
Spanish Cardinal Antonio Javierre Ortas, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, died Feb. 1 in his apartment near the Vatican.
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Feb-1-2007) -- Pope Benedict XVI, who was to preside at Cardinal Javierre's funeral Feb. 2 in St. Peter's Basilica, said the cardinal's life and actions always were motivated by "his love for Christ and his fidelity to the successor of Peter."
Cardinal Javierre's death leaves the College of Cardinals with 184 members, of whom 110 are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.
The cardinal, who would have celebrated his 86th birthday Feb. 21, was a member of the Salesians and had served as rector of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, as secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education and as Vatican archivist before heading the worship congregation from 1992 to 1996.
As head of the congregation, in 1994 Cardinal Javierre issued the rules officially stating that local bishops could allow women and girls to be altar servers.
Pope Benedict sent telegrams of condolence Feb. 1 to members of the Salesians as well as to the cardinal's brother, Father Jose Javierre Ortas.
Born in Sietamo, Spain, in 1921, he joined the Salesians in his late teens and was ordained to the priesthood in 1949.
After studying philosophy, theology and education at universities in Spain, Italy and Belgium, he began his career as a theology professor and administrator at the Salesian University in Turin, Italy, in the early 1950s. After he became rector in 1971, it became a pontifical university and its main campus was transferred to Rome.
Cardinal Javierre was active in the ecumenical movement from the time he served the Spanish bishops as an expert during the Second Vatican Council, according to a brief biography published by the Vatican.
He served as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and for three years was a member of the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission.
Spanish cardinal who issued rules permitting altar girls dies