With this telegram, Pope Francis mourns the death of Card. Adrianus Simonis, who presided over the Dutch Bishops' Conference from 1983 to 2008.
In 1983 he became bishop of Utrecht. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1985.
He was 88 years old, so he had not been a cardinal elector since 2011.
With his death, the College of Cardinals is reduced to 220 people. Of these, 98 do not have the right to vote in a conclave, because they are over 80 years old.
Currently, there are 122 cardinal electors, 66 of them chosen by Pope Francis.
