Edward Cassidy

His Eminence Edward Cassidy AC
President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
File:Edward Idris Cassidy (1984).jpg Edward Idris Cassidy (1984)
See	Titular Bishop of Amantia
Installed	26 February 2002
Predecessor	Wladyslaw Rubin
Other posts	President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (1989 – 2001); Official of the Secretariat of State (1988 – 1989); Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Netherlands (1984 – 1988); Apostolic Delegate to South Africa (1979 – 1984); Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Lesotho (1979); Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Bangladesh(1973 – 1979); Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to China (1970 – 1973)
Orders
Ordination	23 July 1949 (Priest) in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
Consecration	15 November 1970 (Bishop) in
Created Cardinal	28 June 1991 by John Paul II in
Rank	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Via Lata
Personal details
Birth name	Edward Idris Cassidy
Born	(1924-07-05) 5 July 1924 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Alma mater	Pontifical Lateran University and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Rome
Coat of arms	Edward Cassidy's coat of arms

Styles of Edward Idris Cassidy
200px
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Amantia (titular see)

Edward Idris Cassidy AC (born 5 July 1924) is an Australian Roman Catholic cardinal priest. He is the President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity within the Vatican and headed the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews. He was made a cardinal on 28 June 1991 and his career is marked by diplomatic service representing the foreign relations of the Holy See.

Early life

Cassidy was born in Sydney. During high school a priest from St. Felix's parish discouraged him from becoming a priest because he had not finished his secondary education, had not studied in Catholic schools and his family background was definitively "unsuitable", due to financial difficulties after his grandfather died in 1939. He worked at the New South Wales Department of Road Transport as a junior clerk, having to stop his schooling. In 1942, he went directly to Archbishop Norman Thomas Gilroy of Sydney to present his case for entering the priesthood; the Archbishop Gilroy agreed and he entered St. Columba's College (seminary), Springwood, in February 1943.

He was ordained a priest of the diocese of Sydney on 23 July 1949 in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, by Cardinal Gilroy. Father Edward Bede Clancy, was ordained at the same time. He volunteered to transfer to the Diocese of Wagga Wagga and in January 1950, he was assigned to the small parish of Yenda.

Diplomatic service

In 1952, Bishop Francis Henschke of Wagga Wagga asked him if he would like to go to Rome to study canon law; he agreed and left for Rome on 1 September 1952. While studying in Rome, he resided at Collegio Sant'Apollinare, next to Piazza Navona. He completed his education studying at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in canon law in July 1955 with a dissertation on the history and juridical nature of apostolic delegations, and at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, also in Rome, from October 1953, where he obtained a diploma in diplomatic studies. After finishing his studies, he joined the Vatican diplomatic service in July 1955.

He served in the nunciatures in India, Ireland, and Portugal. He was appointed counselor of the apostolic delegation in the United States in June 1967, but as the nuncio in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Sensi, was then transferred to the nunciature in Portugal, had to stay in Dublin until the following November, when he was named instead counselor of the nunciature in El Salvador, where he remained until the end of 1969, becoming then counselor of the nunciature in Argentina until his promotion to the episcopate in 1970.

At the age of 46, on 27 October 1970 he was appointed Titular bishop of Amantia and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the Republic of China. He was consecrated on 15 November by Cardinal Jean-Marie Villot assisted by Archbishops Giovanni Benelli and Matthew Beovich, representing Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli. He later served as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Bangladesh, and after that as Apostolic Delegate to Southern Africa and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Lesotho.

Roman Curia

He served in Southern Africa until 6 November 1984, when he was appointed Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the Netherlands, where he served until in 1988 he was appointed Substitute of the Secretariat of State in the Roman Curia. After only a year he was appointed as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In the consistory of 28 June 1991 Pope John Paul II created him Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata. On 26 February 2001 he took the option open to cardinal deacons to be elevated to the rank of cardinal priest after ten years as a cardinal deacon.

In 1999, Cassidy was jointly responsible for the publication of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, widely received as an ecumenical peace document. Reflecting on his involvement, Cassidy commented:

"If on judgement day the Lord asks [me] what [I] did, if nothing else, [I] can say that [I] signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification."

He retired in 2001 and returned to his native Australia. After his retirement, for the first time ever, during the period from 21 October 2003 (when George Pell was made cardinal) until Edward Bede Clancy's 80th birthday on 13 December, there were three Australian cardinal electors (had a Papal election become necessary). He lost the right to vote in a papal conclave on his 80th birthday on 5 July 2004, so he didn´t participate at the conclave of 2005 and the conclave of 2013.

His book titled Rediscovering Vatican II – Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, was published 2005 and marked the 40th anniversary of the Vatican's ecumenism declaration Nostra aetate. The book made a significant contribution to ongoing international inter-religious dialogue.

Honours

In 1990, Cassidy was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in "recognition of [his] service to (the) religion and to international affairs".

In 2006, the LDS Church in Australia presented Cassidy with an award for his efforts to bring better understanding to the people of the world. Presenting the "John Simpson Standing for Something" award to Cassidy for his role in building interfaith relations across the world, Mormon Elder Paul Sybrowsky said that "Latter-day Saints have seen that Cardinal Cassidy is indeed a man filled with faith and courage to help make this a better world for all to live in." In a message of congratulations, Premier Morris Iemma (also a Catholic) said that "no Australian has risen to greater eminence in the Catholic Church, and none has been such a devoted servant of the cause of ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue."

External links

• Cardinal Cassidy on Catholic hierarchy.org
• Cardinal Cassidy on "What the Cardinals believe"
• Interview with Cardinal Cassidy
• news item on his book

See also

• List of oldest Catholic bishops

Preceded by Eduardo Martínez Somalo	Substitute for General Affairs 23 March 1988 – 12 December 1989	Succeeded by Giovanni Battista Re
Preceded by Johannes Willebrands	President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity 12 December 1989 – 3 March 2001	Succeeded by Walter Kasper