Cardinal Agustín García-Gasco, the retired Archbishop of Valencia,
died in Rome of a heart attack in the hours before the beatification of
Pope John Paul II.
He was 80 years old.
Born in Spain and ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid in
1956, the prelate was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid in 1985 and
became Archbishop of Valencia in 1992.
Pope Benedict created him a
cardinal during the consistory of 2007; he retired in 2009.
The Latin American Herald Tribune reported that “Garcia-Gasco was
one of the most combative bishops regarding the policies of the
socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, above all
everything connected to certain laws dealing with same-sex marriage …
and the so-called ‘express divorce law,’ among others.”
Pope Benedict XVI praised the deceased Spanish prelate for his service
to the Church, especially in Valencia, where he was "wisely and
generously devoted to her evangelizing actions, tirelessly supporting
numerous pastoral initiatives, above all in the area of the teaching and
pastoral care of the family."
With Cardinal Garcia-Gasco’s death, the number of cardinals has fallen
to 198, 115 of whom are eligible to participate in a conclave.