Canadian Cardinal Gagnon, longtime Vatican official, dies in Montreal

Published: 2007-08-27

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Canadian Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, 89, a longtime Vatican official and an outspoken defender of traditional church teaching who frequently found himself in the midst of controversy, died Aug. 25 in Montreal. Pope Benedict XVI called the cardinal a "faithful servant of the church" who generously served many years "with competence and devotion." In telegrams sent to Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal and Sulpician Father Lawrence Terrien, superior general of the Sulpicians, the pope offered his condolences for the Sulpician cardinal's death. The Vatican released to journalists copies of the telegrams Aug. 26. Cardinal Gagnon served as head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, 1983-1990, and as president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, 1991-98. Throughout his career at the Vatican, Cardinal Gagnon was an outspoken critic of North American society and church trends. He said U.S. religious education was diluted and failed to teach the basics and criticized sex education in the church.

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