Pope Benedict XVI praised the late Cardinal Jean Margeot for his dedicated promotion of the family.Cardinal Margeot, who was the retired bishop of Port Louis, Mauritius, died July 17 at the age of 93. His death leaves the College of Cardinals with 185 members, 113 of whom are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.
In a telegram of condolence sent July 17, Pope Benedict expressed his sadness over the cardinal's death and called him a "passionate pastor who dedicated his whole life to the Mauritian people."
The late cardinal was known for his commitment to evangelization and for being "at the service of defending and promoting the family," said the pope.
He led a Catholic renewal on the tiny island-state in the Indian Ocean while carefully maintaining good relations with his Hindu and Muslim fellow citizens.
Aware that the Hindu majority opposed open conversions, he said he sought to evangelize through example and by making Christian teaching more widely known.
About half of Mauritians are Hindus with an Indian background, some 16 percent are Muslim and nearly 24 percent are Catholic.
The late cardinal's annual Lenten pastoral letter and Pentecost homily usually made the headlines of the national secular press, and his positions on controversial issues were often lead stories on the country's radio and television stations.
He urged Catholics to be concerned with prayer, liturgy and charitable service.
He lamented the erosion of traditional family values, the legalization of abortion and sterilization in the region, and what he saw as the International Monetary Fund's practice of tying economic aid to support for birth-control programs.
During a 1988 meeting of world bishops at the Vatican, the cardinal spoke highly of his diocese's natural family planning program, which he said was one of the most effective in the world.
He said the church was fighting to protect the dignity and health of women, especially those who are pressured to take birth control pills, sterilized under government programs, forced to undergo the trauma of abortions, or who are badgered by husbands not to get pregnant.
Jean Margeot was born Feb. 3, 1916, in Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius. He was ordained a priest Dec. 17, 1938, and ordained a bishop May 4, 1969.
As bishop of Port Louis, he was extremely active in the formation of the clergy, youths and catechists. He also provided spiritual guidance to the Chinese and Indian communities within the diocesan territory and was very active in the fight against drugs.
He served as the first president of the Southwest Indian Ocean bishops' conference, which includes Madagascar, Reunion, Seychelles, Comores and Mauritius.
Pope John Paul II made him the country's first cardinal in a June 1988 consistory.
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