Paul Josef Cordes (born 5 September 1934) is a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as president of the Pontifical Council ''Cor Unum'' (1995–2010), and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2007.

Biography

Youth

Cordes was born in

Kirchhundem Kirchhundem is a German community in North Rhine-Westphalia. It belongs to the Olpe district. Geography Location The community of Kirchhundem lies in the Olpe district's southeast in the south Sauerland and belongs to the so-called ''Bilste ...

, and graduated from the '' gymnasium'' of

Attendorn Attendorn () is a German town in the Olpe district in North Rhine-Westphalia. As of 2019 it had a population of 24,264. History The town's location was favoured by the good climate in the Attendorn-Elsper Limestone Double Basin (''Attendorn- ...

in 1955. He studied medicine for two semesters in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

, and philosophy at the Philosophical Faculty of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

as well as in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France. After studying at the Faculty of Theology Paderborn, Cordes attended the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

, where he was also an assistant to Professor

Karl Lehmann Karl Lehmann (16 May 1936 – 11 March 2018) was a German Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mainz from 1983 to 2016, being elevated to Cardinal in 2001. He also served as Chairman of the Conference of the Ge ...

, under whom Cordes was also the first student to defend his thesis ("Sendung zum Dienst. Exegetisch-historische und systematische Studien zum Konzilsdekret 'Über Leben und Dienst der Priester'", 1971).

Priest

Cordes was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop

Lorenz Jäger Lorenz Jäger (born 6 June 1951 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe) is a German sociologist and journalist. Biography Lorenz Jäger studied sociology and German literature at the Philipps-Universität Marburg and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Univ ...

on 21 December 1961. He then served as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of ''Studienheim Sankt Klemens'' for late

vocation A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious ...

s of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

s of

and

until 1966. From 1966 to 1969, Cordes was Prefect of ''Collegium Leonium'', the archdiocesan

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

of Paderborn. In 1972, he was called to the secretariat of the Episcopal Conference of Germany, where he served as relator for

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

affairs.

Bishop

On 27 October 1975, Cordes was appointed Auxiliary bishop of Paderborn and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Naissus'' by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on 1 February 1976 from Archbishop Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, with Cardinal

Julius Döpfner Julius August Döpfner (26 August 1913 – 24 July 1976) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1961 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. Biography Early lif ...

and Bishop Paul Nordhues serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Paderborn. Cordes was later named an honorary

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of the cathedral chapter on 20 July 1980. He entered the service of the Roman Curia upon his appointment as

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their co ...

on 11 March 1980. On 2 December 1995, Cordes was made President of Pontifical Council ''Cor Unum'', and he was raised to the rank of archbishop. He served as a special

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

envoy to the peoples of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, El Salvador,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, when they were struck by

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...

from 29 November to 3 December 1998.

Cardinal

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

created him

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of S. Lorenzo in Piscibus in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

of 24 November 2007. On 12 June 2008, in addition to his main duties he was appointed by Benedict as a member of congregations in th
Roman Curia
these are the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

, the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardi ...

and the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

and the

Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (''Justitia et Pax'') was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia dedicated to "action-oriented studies" for the international promotion of justice, peace, and human rights from the perspective of the ...

. In November 2010 he was also appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops. He ceased to be a member of these dicasteries on reaching 80 on 5 September 2014.

Views

In an article in the ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'', Cordes argued that

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

comes from the early 17th century British idea that democracy should be handled as a religious and moral principle, in line with the Reformation idea of the

priesthood of all believers The priesthood of all believers or universal priesthood is a biblical principle in most Protestant branches of Christianity which is distinct from the institution of the ''ministerial'' priesthood ( holy orders) found in some other branches, incl ...

. He argued that such a principle would be fatal to the Church if the laymen-centered theology of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

were to be applied in a similar way. He claimed the German press tried to turn the '' Williamson affair'' into a ''Benedict affair''.A look back at the Bishop Williamson affair
/ref>

References

External links

*

Cardinals of the Holy Roman ChurchCatholic-pages bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordes, Paul Josef 1934 births Living people Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni German Roman Catholic titular bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops 21st-century German cardinals Pontifical Council Cor Unum Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Members of the Congregation for the Clergy Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Members of the Congregation for Bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Paderborn