Pope praises late German cardinal for reconciliation efforts

(July 01, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI has praised late German Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky for his efforts in the cause of reconciliation in his native land and for the homeless. The 75-year old retired archbishop of Berlin who had been seriously ill, died on Thursday. In a condolence message the Pope said that the late prelate had "guided a diocese that was once politically divided and, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany, he united the diocese as a bishop for all people." The pope said the late cardinal dedicated much effort to the cause of reconciliation and wanted to help all those "without a nation, refugees and migrants, and give them a home" in the family of the church. Cardinal Sterzinsky was named Bishop of Berlin in May 1989 - six months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the process of German reunification, he publicly called for reconciliation and warned against the development of a narrow nationalism such as Nazism. He was made cardinal in 1991 and was named Berlin’s first archbishop in 1994 after Blessed John Paul II elevated the diocese to an archdiocese.