Walter Cardinal Kasper
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Walter Cardinal Kasper (born March 5, 1933) is a Cardinal Deacon and President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Roman Curia.
Born in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany, Kasper was ordained to the priesthood in 1957 and earned a doctorate from the Theological Faculty of Tübingen. He worked for three years as an assistant to Leo Scheffczyk and Hans Küng, and later taught dogmatic theology, rising to become dean of the theological facutly in Münster and then in Tübingen.He was editor of the Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche .
Appointed Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in 1989, in 1994, he was named co-chair of the International Commission for Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue. In 1999, Kasper was appointed Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and then, in 2001, its president.
He was appointed Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 2001, and assigned the title Cardinal Deacon of Ognissanti in Via Appia Nuova.
