Walter Kasper was born in Heidenheim an der Brenz on 5 March 1933 and ordained a priest for Rottenburg-Stuttgart on 6 April 1957. A professor of dogmatic theology at Münster and Tübingen and editor of the Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, he wrote the widely read Jesus the Christ (1974) and The God of Jesus Christ (1982). Appointed Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in April 1989 (consecrated 17 June by Archbishop Saier), he co-chaired the Lutheran–Catholic international dialogue from 1994 and co-signed a 1993 German bishops' letter urging admission of the divorced-and-remarried to the sacraments — to the disapproval of Cardinal Ratzinger and John Paul II.
In 1999 he moved to Rome as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (the Holy See gives 1 June; Wikipedia's text says 3 March — the year is what is certain), becoming its President on 3 March 2001 and serving until July 2010. John Paul II created him a cardinal on 21 February 2001, with the deaconry of Ognissanti in Via Appia Nuova. His 2012 book Mercy set the tone debate for Francis's pontificate, and his address to the 2014 consistory — The Gospel of the Family — proposed a penitential path to Communion for some of the divorced-and-remarried, opposed publicly by five fellow cardinals. His motto is Veritatem in caritate — “truth in charity.”
Consequential Quotes
The Church cannot question the words of Jesus on the indissolubility of marriage. Whoever expects the Consistory and the Synod to come up with 'easy', general solutions that apply to everyone, are mistaken.
Major Works & Initiatives
President for Christian Unity
A decade of ecumenical negotiation.
The theologian
Jesus the Christ, The God of Jesus Christ, Mercy.
The Gospel of the Family
The address that framed the family synods.
Controversies
The Heathrow remarks (2010)
In a September 2010 interview Kasper said landing at Heathrow felt at times like “a Third World country” and spoke of “aggressive atheism” in Britain; he withdrew from the papal visit to Britain that followed. A Church spokesman said the remarks were not the Vatican's views, and British Airways called his claims about it “completely untrue”; his secretary cited gout as the reason for the withdrawal.
The 2014 synod recording
Kasper denied telling reporters that African, Asian, and Middle Eastern bishops “should not tell us too much what we have to do”; journalist Edward Pentin produced a recording verifying the remarks, and Kasper apologized.