Italian Cardinal Bafile, former Vatican official, dies at age 101

Published: 2005-02-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Italian Cardinal Corrado Bafile, the oldest member of the College of Cardinals, died Feb. 3 at the age of 101. In a telegram signed in his name, Pope John Paul II expressed his "sadness for the death of this dear brother who spent his entire existence in the cause of the Gospel, for the good of the church and at the service of the Holy See." Announcing the death of Cardinal Bafile, the former prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the Vatican did not provide a cause of death. The cardinal died at a Rome hospital. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, was to celebrate Cardinal Bafile's funeral Mass Feb. 5 in St. Peter's Basilica "in the name of the Holy Father," the Vatican said Feb. 4.

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