Johannes Joachim Degenhardt - Death and Funeral

Death and Funeral

Degenhardt died suddenly in the early morning of 25 July 2002, in the archiepiscopal palace in Paderborn, at the age of 76. In the days that followed, thousands passed by the cardinal's body, lying in state in the Bartholomäuskapelle in Paderborn. The funeral took place on 3 August 2002 in the Cathedral of Paderborn in the presence of nine cardinals (Henryk Roman Gulbinowicz (Breslau), Karl Lehmann (Mainz), Franciszek Macharski (Cracow), Joachim Meisner (Cologne), Joseph Ratzinger (Rome), Leo Scheffczyk (Munich), Adrianus Johannes Simonis (Utrecht), Georg Sterzinsky (Berlin) and Friedrich Wetter (Munich)), over 60 archbishops and bishops from all over the world and numerous state guests.

The entrance of the numerous dignitaries into the cathedral alone took 20 minutes. The largest funeral ceremony which had ever taken place in the history of Paderborn was presided over by the ecclesiastical representative of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger (today Pope Benedict XVI), shortly before he became Dean of the College of Cardinals (on 27 November 2002). A vast number of the faithful paid their last respects to Degenhardt through the live television broadcast of the pontifical requiem. In 2003, Hans-Josef Becker became Degenhardt's successor as archbishop of Paderborn.