Retired Senegalese Cardinal Hyacinthe Thiandoum dies at 83

Published: 2004-05-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Cardinal Hyacinthe Thiandoum of Dakar, Senegal, died May 18 at the age of 83 in a hospital in Marseille, France, the Vatican announced. The cardinal served as archbishop of Dakar for 38 years before retiring in 2000 and moving to southern France. Cardinal Thiandoum's death leaves the College of Cardinals with 190 members, 125 of whom are under 80 years old and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. The cardinal is one of a handful of non-Poles mentioned by name in Pope John Paul II's new autobiographical book, "Get Up, Let Us Go." In the book, released the day Cardinal Thiandoum died, the pope was writing about meeting African bishops at the Second Vatican Council and experiencing concretely the universality of the church. "I had warm and frequent contacts with Cardinal Hyacinthe Thiandoum, a man with an exceptional personality," the pope wrote.

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