Below is a Vatican Radio translation of the telegram Pope Francis sent expressing his condolences for the death of Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier, OP, theologian-emeritus of the Papal Household who died last night at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital at the age of 93:
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To Madame Marie Emmanuelle PASTORE COTTIER
I have learned with sadness the news of the passing of your brother, Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier, O.P. I would like to express my deep involvement in the mourning which affects everyone who knew this zealous servant of the Gospel. With profound gratitude, I remember his strong faith, his paternal kindness, and his intense cultural and ecclesial activity, especially in the service of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI as Theologian of the Papal Household. I offer a fervent prayer to the Lord, so that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and St. Dominic, he may grant the late Cardinal the reward promised to his faithful disciples. As a sign of comfort, I send my Apostolic Blessing with all my heart to you, and to all who appreciated his priestly zeal and dedication to the Church and to the Sovereign Pontiff.
Franciscus Pp.
[Courtesy of Vatican Radio]
