Cardinal who helped write Catechism dies at 99

Last May, he received a call from the newly elected Pope Leo XIV after undergoing delicate heart surgery. This Argentine cardinal, who was never an elector in a conclave, was created cardinal in 2007 by Benedict XVI, to whom he was close. He had participated in the drafting of the Catechism of the Catholic Church with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Born on February 7, 1926, in Oliva, Argentina, Estanislao Esteban Karlic, who came from a family of Croatian descent, was ordained a priest in 1954 for the Diocese of Córdoba, after beginning his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome in 1948.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Córdoba by Paul VI in 1977, before being promoted by John Paul II to coadjutor archbishop of Paraná in 1983 and then archbishop of that diocese in 1986.

John Paul II then appointed this theologian as a member of the Editorial Committee of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which led him to work closely with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

He was also special secretary of the Special Assembly of the Synod on the Americas in 1997.

As vice-president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference from 1987 to 1996, then as president from 1996 to 2002, Archbishop Karlic played an important role on the national scene of this vast Latin American country, in the delicate context of fragile democratization and the economic crisis of 2001. His relations with the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, were cordial without being particularly close.

Cardinal Karlic retired from his episcopal office in 2003 and was created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, at the age of 81, as an honorary title.

Due to his longevity, Cardinal Karlic was briefly the dean of the College of Cardinals from September 29, 2024 (the death of Angolan Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento) to December 7, 2024 (the creation of the former Italian nuncio Angelo Acerbi as cardinal, who is expected to celebrate his 100th birthday on September 23).

Cardinal Karlic's death is the third bereavement in a few months for the Argentine Church, following the death of Pope Francis on April 21 and that of Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, a Capuchin friar and confessor, on June 30.

The Sacred College now has 248 cardinals, including 130 electors in the event of a conclave and 118 non-electors.

Pope Leo XIV had telephoned Cardinal Karlic on May 20 to express his solidarity and compassion after a delicate heart operation. The two men were linked by their Augustinian sensibility, as Cardinal Karlic joined the Order of St. Augustine in 2005, at the age of nearly 80, at a time when Father Robert Francis Prevost was the prior general of the order.

In a telegram of condolence addressed to the current Archbishop of Paraná, Raúl Martín, Pope Leo XIV assured him that he would “remember with esteem this devoted and upright pastor, who for many years and with great fidelity dedicated his life to the service of God and the Church, bringing the light of the Gospel to various areas of life and culture.”

“He served as priest and bishop in the archdioceses of Córdoba and Paraná, and was president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference for two consecutive terms, welcoming my predecessor St. John Paul II during his apostolic journey to that country,” the Pope noted.

The Polish pontiff's visit on the occasion of World Youth Day in Buenos Aires in 1987 remains the last visit by a pope to Argentina.

“In addition, among many other pastoral tasks and initiatives at the local, national, and continental levels, he generously offered himself in service to the universal Church, being one of the collaborators in the drafting of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,” recalls Leo XIV.

“Giving thanks to God for his life of faith and his deep love for the Church, I offer prayers for the eternal repose of his soul, that the Lord Jesus may grant him the crown of glory that never fades,” the pope concludes, granting all his relatives and diocesans the apostolic blessing “as a sign of Christian hope in the risen Lord.”