Cardinal Lourdusamy (90) passes away in Rome

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, June 03, 2014: Pondicherry Catholic church reports inform, Cardinal Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, a native of Puducherry, passed away in  Rome. The mortal remains of the Cardinal would be flown to Chennai and taken to Puducherry, where the funeral is expected. 

90-year old Lourdusamy, who was elevated as Cardinal in 1985, was Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches at Rome. He was at one time Archbishop of Bangalore. He played a big role during the International Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai 1964, when Pope Paul VI, the first ever Pope to set foot on Indian soil.

Born on February 5, 1924 at Kalleri near Puducherry, the Cardinal became a priest in Puducherry in 1951.  After serving in Libya as Titular Bishop of Sozusa, in 1975, he was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples before being elevated as a Cardinal in 1985. He will be well remembered by the senior citizens of Karnataka for his intellectual and spiritual qualities.