German Cardinal Sterzinsky dead at 75
June 30, 2011
Cardinal George Sterzinsky, the retired Archbishop of Berlin, died on June 30 at the age of 75 after a long illness.
Born in 1936, George Sterzinsky was trained in what was then East Germany and ordained to the priesthood in 1960. He was named Bishop of Berlin in 1989. (After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the city, Berlin became an Archdiocese in 1994.) He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 1991. Hampered by declining health, he resigned in February 2011 at the age of 75.
With the death of Cardinal Sterzinsky there are now 197 living members of the College of Cardinals, of whom 114 are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
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