Passing of Cardinal Bernard Agre, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast) at the age of 88

Cardinal Agre

Cardinal Bernard Agre, Cardinal-Priest of S. Giovanni Crisostomo a Monte Sacro Alto has passed away on Monday, 9 June 2014 at the age of 88. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Abidjan, the principal diocese of Ivory Coast or Cote d’Ivoire, from 1994 and 2006. Prior to this he was the long time Bishop of Man from 1968 to 1992 and as Bishop of Yamoussoukro from 1992 to 1994, in Cote d’Ivoire.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-8.htm#2

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Cardinal Agre was created Cardinal in 2001 by Pope St. John Paul II in his eighth Cardinal creation consistory on 21 February 2001. His motto was Etre Tout a Tous, which means “Be all things to all”. This means an emphasis on service and Christian servant leadership, to give one’s best to all others who are in need.

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We pray for Cardinal Agre, that he will rest in peace, and God will reward him for all his hard and great work as the long time servant of God as the shepherd of the faithful in Abidjan and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as for all the ministries and good works he had done for the sake of God and His people in the entire Universal Church. May the Lord welcome him into His embrace in heaven and give him eternal rest and happiness that he deserved.

With the passing of Cardinal Agre, the College of Cardinals now stands at 213 members, with 118 Cardinal-electors and 95 Cardinal non-electors. The number of Cardinal-electors now is 2 below the specified maximum limit of 120.

There are now 2 Cardinal-elector vacancy in the College of Cardinals, 0 vacant Cardinal Suburbicarian Sees (for Cardinal Bishops), 3 vacant Cardinal Title (for Cardinal Priests) and 7 vacant Cardinal Deaconries (for Cardinal Deacons).

Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re (Italy), Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops turns 80, ceases to be a Cardinal-elector

VATICAN POPE HOLY THURSDAY

Today, Thursday, 30 January 2014, Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re of Italy, Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto, the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops, turns 80, and therefore, according to the rules written in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, he loses his right to vote in any future conclave.

Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re was made Cardinal-Priest of Ss. XII Apostoli by Pope John Paul II in the 2001 Consistory of Cardinals on 21 February 2001, the eighth Consistory of his pontificate. Cardinal Re was made a Cardinal in honour of his long service to the Church as the Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and the College of Cardinals from 1987 to 1989, and works in the Secretariat of State, until in 2000 when he was appointed the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Cardinal Re was promoted as one of the six Cardinal Bishops in the Church in 2002, after the passing of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin.

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In his position as the senior Cardinal Bishop under 80 in 2013 Conclave, he is the Acting Dean of the College of Cardinals in the 2013 Papal Conclave which elected Pope Francis as the 266th Pope and Leader of the Universal Church.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-8.htm#134

May God bless His Eminence Cardinal Re, with a blessed old age and health. May he remain strong in the faith and hopefully can perhaps still continue to work great graces and good works of love and peace in his old age and retirement, as he continued to minister to the people of God.

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The College of Cardinals now stands at 199 members in total, with 106 Cardinal-electors and 93 Cardinal non-electors. There are now vacancy of 14 Cardinal-electors as compared to the maximum number of electors allowed in the Conclave of 120, although Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had sometimes surpassed this limit.

Next Cardinal-elector to age out (80) will be Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, the current Metropolitan Archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), on 5 March 2014.