Cardinal Desmond Connell, the former Archbishop of Dublin has died at age 90. He peacefully passed in his sleep after battling a long illness.
Card. Connell was ordained in Dublin in 1951 and was appointed Archbishop of Dublin in January 1988, where he served until April 2004.
He was proclaimed cardinal in the 2001 Consistory by Pope John Paul II and was a member in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI as pope in 2005.
As Archbishop, he was responsible for handling many of the Irish clerical sex abuse scandals and has been accused of a 'delayed reactionâ? when handling some cases. As a result, before he retired, the cardinal asked forgiveness from those he offended or from those who suffered from the abuse.
Now, the number of cardinals is 225 with 118 of them under age 80 and able to vote in an eventual conclave.
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