Valencia, Spain, May 5, 2011 / 11:58 am
Archbishop Carlos Osoro of Valencia, Spain praised his predecessor for a life of “service to the Church through love,” as he spoke at the funeral Mass for Spanish Cardinal Agustin Garcia-Gasco.
“A few days into our stay in Rome for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, we received word of the death of Cardinal Garcia-Gasco. Amidst our dismay, we experienced hope, for he lived to love and to give of himself out of love for the Church in service of all mankind,” Archbishop Osoro said in his May 4 homily.
Cardinal Garcia-Gasco died of a heart attack on May 1 in Rome at the age of 80. He had traveled to Italy to attend the beatification of John Paul II.
“The resurrection has reached and permeated us,” the archbishop said. “Cardinal Garcia-Gasco held fast to the Lord’s hand, and consequently he could say, ‘I, but no longer I.’ Cardinal Garcia-Gasco, having received the life of Christ, did not remain in death, he loved,” the archbishop said.