The German Catholic Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, who led the Vatican's charitable and disaster-relief work for a number of years, died in Rome on Friday. He was 89 years old.
The German Bishops' Conference (DBK) announced his death.
The German clergyman moved to the Vatican in 1980 after being appointed vice president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity by then-Pope John Paul II.
In 1995, Cordes was named leader of "Cor Unum," the Vatican's charitable and disaster-relief organization, which he continued to lead until 2010.
He was made a cardinal in 2007 by then-Pope Benedict XVI, a fellow German.
He was born on September 5, 1934 in the central German town of Kirchhundem and was ordained a priest there in 1961. He served as auxiliary bishop of the surrounding Archdiocese of Paderborn from 1976 to 1980.
Cordes is credited with playing a key role in the creation of the Catholic World Youth Day, an event launched by John Paul II in 1985, that has attracted millions of young Catholic believers to mass events around the world.
"For Cardinal Cordes, the Church's commitment to the younger generation was a central task. This shaped him until the end of his life," Bishop Georg Bätzing, the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, said in a statement.
Bätzing also credited Cordes for his devotion to coordinating worldwide relief efforts, saying the clergyman "went to places where no one wants to travel."