The retired Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Cahal Daly, quietly marked his 90th birthday Monday in the home town of St Therese of Lisieux.Cardinal Daly, born in Loughguile, Co Antrim in 1917, has been a bishop for more than 40 years.
Earmarked early on as a future Church leader, he was ordained in June 1941.
After completing studies for a doctorate in divinity from St Patrick's College, Maynooth and a licentiate in philosophy from the Institut Catholique in Paris, he taught at both St Malachy's College and Queen's University in Belfast.
He remained at Queens until 1967, when he was appointed Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois.
After 15 years in the Republic, he became bishop of Down and Connor, succeeding Dr William Philbin, for whom he had acted as theological adviser during the Second Vatican Council.
At the height of the troubles, Cardinal Daly spoke out severely against paramilitary attacks and sectarianism. He was also a strong critic of the IRA.
"My own approach was based on the conviction that a Church person like myself must avoid any suspicion of being a mouthpiece for one or other political tradition and should take his stand only on the ground of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," he said.
Cardinal Daly said his stance was "doomed to be seen by some as a betrayal of ‘one's own community’ and a dereliction of one's pastoral duty towards 'ones own people'".
"St Paul wrote of 'speaking the truth in love' and that is what the Christian pastor must always seek to do," he said.
At the age of 73 he became Archbishop of Armagh, succeeding Cardinal Tomas O Flaich, who had died suddenly.
In June 1991 he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
Welcoming the Co Antrim cleric to the College of Cardinals, the pope encouraged Cardinal Daly to continue to help create a society where people would have the "greatest mutual respect for each other, according to the noble traditions of Ireland".
In a recent interview, Cardinal Daly revealed how growing up in rural Ireland had a profound effect on him.
"One had to trudge with buckets quite some distance to the nearest spring well to get drinking water and carry it home. Having gone to the trouble one was not going to waste it. The same applied to all the basics of life, such as food."
In 2004 Cardinal Daly published The Minding of Planet Earth, in which he warns of "impending environmental catastrophe on a cosmic scale".
Recalling his formative years in Loughguile, he said: "Now, I am not in favour of returning to that kind of culture but the values that it represents - of not wasting, of recycling and reusing - still need to be cherished."
In 2005 Cardinal Daly donated his entire set of writings, comprising 500 sermons, essays, addresses and press statements to the Linen Hall Library's political collection, saying he was aware of the historical importance of documents relating to the troubles.
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