Walter Cardinal Kasper

Walter Kasper (born 5 March 1933 in Heidenheim an der Brenz) is a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, having served as its President from 2001 to 2010. Kasper can speak German, English and Italian. Born in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany, Kasper was ordained a priest on 6 April 1957 by Bishop Carl Leiprecht of Rottenburg. From 1957 to 1958 he was a parochial vicar in a Stuttgart. He returned to his studies and earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Tübingen. He was a faculty member at Tübingen from 1958 to 1961 and worked for three years as an assistant to the conservative Leo Scheffczyk and the liberal Hans Küng, who was banned from teaching by Vatican authorities owing to his critical views on contraception and papal infallibility. He later taught dogmatic theology at the Westphalian University of Münster (1964–1970), rising to become dean of the theological faculty...