At the age of 85, Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, the Archbishop of Prague from 1991-2010 has passed away.
He was one of the few cardinals who lived during the hardest years of communism. He was ordained in 1968 and had to live clandestinely as a priest. In order to avoid suspicion, he worked as a window washer.
John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1994. He was president of the episcopal conferences of Europe and participated in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI.
With his death, the college of cardinals descends to 224 cardinals, 117 of them electors and 107 non-electors.
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