Cardinal Camillo Ruini passed away this evening in Rome. He was vicar from 1991 to 2008 and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Cardinal Vicar Baldassare Reina, the Episcopal Council, and the Diocese of Rome, grateful for his long and fruitful Christian life and his service to the Church, entrust Cardinal Camillo Ruini to the Lord's mercy.

The Diocese of Rome stated in a statement: "His pastoral leadership from 1991 to 2008 left a profound mark on his intelligence in interpreting the presence of Christians in the city, combined with his responsibility as president of the Episcopal Conference of the Italian Church."

"Astute in discerning the country's political and social changes," the statement reads, "he considered it essential to guide cultural transitions with the Catholic pride of being the custodians of a heritage of values that must not be hidden, but rather safeguarded and defended, fulfilling his episcopal motto, Veritas liberabit nos."

(Unioneonline/AD)

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