March 6, 2004
President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity at the Vatican
to Balamand
Cardinal Walter Kasper was born in Heidenheim-Brenz, Germany, in 1933 and was ordained in 1957. An accomplished theologian and author of many books and articles, Kasper studied at the University of Tingen where he later became professor of dogmatic theology. He taught at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1983. In 1987 he was ordained bishop of Rottenberg-Stuttgart, Germany.
Widely respected for his work in Christian ecumenical relations, Kasper was chosen in 1979 as one of a dozen Catholic theologians to sit on the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission, one of the most comprehensive theological forums in Christianity. In 1994 he was named co-chairman of the Lutheran-Catholic Commission of Unity and five years later was appointed secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome. On May 3, 2001, Pope John Paul II named Kasper as its president, succeeding the retiring Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy.
 |
 |
| Cardinal Kasper with Bishop John Yazigi and Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, speaking to the Faculty of the Institute | His Eminence Cardinal Kasper Touring the Institute of Theology |
 |
 |
| His Eminence Speaking to the Faculty and Students | The Dean, Bishop John Yazigi, Addressing His Eminence |
 |
Dinner in the Occasion of the Visit |
