Argentina's Cardinal Karlic, esteemed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict, dies at 99 (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))

Cardinal Estanislao Esteban Karlic, who led the Archdiocese of Paraná, Argentina, from 1986 to 2003, died on August 8 at the age of 99. Cardinal Karlic also served as president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference from 1996 to 2002.

The lengthy obituary in L’Osservatore Romano paid tribute to the late prelate as a “a theologian and pastor dedicated to dialogue” and noted that Pope St. John Paul II appointed him to several positions, including membership on the editorial committee of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1987) and special secretary for the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America (1997).

Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Karlic a cardinal in 2007, when he was 81. The Vatican newspaper reported that Pope Leo XIV called Cardinal Karlic on May 20, less than two weeks after the papal election, to thank him for his service to the Church.