VATICAN CITY, APR 7 (ZENIT.org).- In a telegram of sympathy, John Paul II emphasized the generous pastoral work and dispositions of Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz, Bishop Emeritus of Guayaquil, in the service of the Church. The Cardinal died in Ecuador yesterday at 84, after suffering a protracted case of hepatitis.

    In recalling the Cardinal's apostolic dynamism, first as Bishop of Ambato, later as Metropolitan of Guayaquil, and finally as Apostolic Administrator of Ibarra, the Holy Father expressed his spiritual closeness to all the faithful who knew and loved him, and to the Order of Minor Franciscans to which he belonged. Because of his merits, John Paul II appointed Echeverria Cardinal in 1994.

    Born in 1912, Cardinal Echeverria took the habit of a Franciscan in 1928. He was ordained a priest in 1937, after finishing his studies in Rome. When he returned to Ecuador, he founded the work of Communion of the Sick, the Jodoko Ricke publishing house, and the magazine "Paz y Bien." He was secretary of the Ecuadorian Institute of Amazonian Studies and member of the International Academy of Franciscan History. In addition, he authored "Quito's Hymn" and "Hymn of the Secular Franciscans of Ecuador." Appointed Bishop of Ambato on October 23, 1949 and Archbishop of Guayaquil on April 10, 1969, he resigned this last post in 1989. In 1985 he welcomed the Pope on his visit to Ecuador. During his pastoral work, 100 churches were built in rural settings and, in the Archdiocese, the number of parish churches grew from 61 to 189.

    With the death of Cardinal Echeverria Ruiz, the only Ecuadorian Cardinal, the Sacred College now has 150 Cardinals from 60 countries, of which 102 are electors and 48 non-electors. ZE00040707