Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop emeritus of Palermo, Italy, died on October 25 at the age of 88.
Born in 1938 and ordained to the priesthood in 1961, Romeo entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1967 and was appointed apostolic nuncio to Haiti in 1983. He was later appointed apostolic nuncio to Colombia (1990), Canada (1999), and Italy and San Marino (2001).
Pope Benedict XVI named him archbishop of Palermo in 2006 and created him a cardinal in 2010. Five years later, Pope Francis accepted Cardinal Romeo’s resignation from the see of Palermo for reasons of age.
“Notably, during his time as Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, he carried out his ministry during a turbulent period in the Caribbean nation’s history, marked by the fall of the Duvalier regime and various coups d’état,” the Vatican newspaper reported.
With Cardinal Romeo’s death, there are now 239 living members of the College of Cardinals, 116 of whom are eligible to take part in a papal election.