Walter Cardinal Kasper
Walter Cardinal Kasper (born
March 5,
1933) is a
Cardinal Deacon and President of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the
Roman Curia.
Born in
Heidenheim an der Brenz,
Germany, Kasper was ordained to the priesthood in
1957 and earned a doctorate from the Theological Faculty of
Tübingen. He worked for three years as an assistant to
Leo Scheffczyk and
Hans Küng, and later taught dogmatic theology, rising to become dean of the theological facutly in
Münster and then in
Tübingen.
Appointed
Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in
1989, in
1994, he was named co-chair of the International Commission for Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue. In
1999, Kasper was appointed Secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and then, in
2001, its president.
He was appointed
Cardinal by
Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 2001, and assigned the title Cardinal Deacon of Ognissanti in Via Appia Nuova.
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Biography at catholic-pages.com