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Cardinal Cooke Dies After Battle With Leukemia

Terence Cardinal Cooke, the spiritual head of the Archdiocese of New York and Military Vicar of the United States, died at 4:45 A.M. yesterday at his residence behind St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
Death came to the 62-year-old Cardinal 41 days after the archdiocese told the public, in a statement dictated by the Cardinal, that he was critically ill with leukemia. Three days ago, it was announced that he was "on the point of death."
The Rev. Peter Finn, a spokesman for the archdiocese, formally announced at 11:30 A.M., "Terence Cardinal Cooke, 10th Bishop, 7th Archbishop, 5th Cardinal of the See of New York and Vicar to military service, Veterans Administration hospitals and Government service overseas, completed his work on earth and was called home by Almighty God to heaven this morning at 4:45 A.M."

A Stream of Worshipers
At St. Patrick's, the mood was solemn and hushed as a steady stream of saddened worshipers filed into the cathedral after hearing of the Cardinal's death. They prayed, lighted candles and expressed their feelings of loss. Many extolled him as a warmhearted man whose compassion had touched the city. 
As a board of church leaders were choosing Bishop Joseph T. O'Keefe as interim administrator for the archdiocese, tributes from religious and political leaders poured into the Roman Catholic chancery office. [Page B7.]
President Reagan, who visited the Cardinal Sept. 25, said, "All of America is saddened by the loss of Cardinal Cooke, a saintly man and a great spiritual leader."
At the Vatican, Pope John Paul II told the 200 prelates attending a Synod of Bishops session of the Cardinal's death.
"I thank God for his dedicated ministry and pray that the example of his devotion to the church may inspire the faithful for years to come," the Pope said.
Mayor Koch ordered the city's flags be lowered to half-staff, and Governor Cuomo broadened the order to include the entire state.
Firefighters rang the special 5-5-5-5 alarm on historic fire engine bells to note the Cardinal's death. Normally the alarm, rung on bells in all city firehouses, is reserved for the death of a firefighter in the line of duty. Fire Commissioner Joseph E. Spinnato called the Cardinal "a good friend of the department."
The bells sounded for the last time yesterday as the department phased out the old system for summoning firefighters.
When he died, the Cardinal was attended by his physician, Dr. Kevin Cahill, and two nurses. Msgr. Joseph Murphy, the archdiocesan Chancellor, was kneeling in prayer at his bedside.
Church officials said the body of the Cardinal would lie in state at St. Patrick's Cathedral through the weekend, beginning tonight at 6 o'clock. The funeral was scheduled for Monday at 2 P.M. The Columbus Day parade, which would have coincided with the funeral, was canceled.
In accordance with church procedure, the archdiocesan Board of Consultors, the Archbishop's highest advisory group, met after the Cardinal's death and chose Bishop O'Keefe, the archdiocesan vicar general, to administer church affairs until Pope John Paul II appoints a successor.

Cardinal's Chief Aide
Bishop O'Keefe, a former archdiocesan school superintendent, was the Cardinal's principal aide during the final weeks of the his life. The choice of the interim administrator is not regarded as an indication of the Pope's selection of a successor.
Under church canon law, Archbishop Pio Laghi, the Apostolic Delegate to the United States, will confer with prelates in the New York region and bishops from other parts of the nation to elicit names of suggested candidates. The delegate will then forward a list of recommendations to the Pope. The Pontiff is not required to choose a name from the list.
Bishop Cooke became Archbishop in 1968 and Cardinal in 1969.
The 175-year-old archdiocese, one of the most prominent in the world, stretches from Staten Island to Rockland and Dutchess Counties. With 1.8 million Catholics, it is the nation's fourth-largest.

A Gentle, Cheerful Man
The Cardinal, a gentle, cheerful man, was known as a superb administrator who kept the archdiocese in sound condition despite economic and religious challenges. In his years as Archbishop, he won great respect from Catholics and befriended a wide variety of non-Catholics.
His death opened up the second major vacancy in a month within the American church. In September, Humberto Cardinal Medeiros of Boston died, leaving the nation's third-largest archdiocese without a head.
Within two years, two of the other seven archdioceses in which a Cardinal normally presides will become open. Timothy Cardinal Manning of Los Angeles and John Cardinal Krol of Philadelphia are both due to step down at the mandatory retirement age of 75.
The openings occur at a time when the future direction of the church in the United States appears to be a growing concern of Pope John Paul II.
Church leaders have become increasingly aware that the Pope views the nation's Catholics somewhat warily. On several issues regarding sexual morality and church discipline, the Pope has repeatedly urged the Americans to strictly heed church law. The urgency of the appeals has convinced many church leaders that the Pope believes that too many American Catholics disobey these standards.
In making key appointments, church officials say, the Pope may indicate the kind of leadership he wants. The New York appointment of the significance of the archdiocese and the added responsibility of the archbishop as military vicar.
The Pontiff was lavish in his praise of Cardinal Cooke when illness confined the Cardinal to his residence.
In response, Cardinal Cooke sent messages to the Pope, including the text of a pastoral letter, scheduled to be read in all parishes on Sunday, in which he continued his role as leader of the church's opposition to abortion.
"It is tragic," he wrote, "that in our time, concepts which are disasterous to the well-being of God's human family-abortion, euthanasia and infanticide-are falsely presented as useful and even respectable solutions to human, family and social problems.
"From the depths of my being, I urge you to refect this antilife, antichild, and antihuman view of life and to oppose with all your strength the deadly technologies of life destruction which daily result in the planned death of the innocent and the helpless."
After the Cardinal was diagnosed as terminally ill in August, he stressed the meaning of life even when burdened by suffering.

'God's Special Gift'
"The 'gift of life,' God's special gift, is no less beautiful when it is accompanied by illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, mental of physical handicaps, loneliness or old age," the Cardinal wrote in his pastoral letter.
Cardinal Cooke gave strong allegiance to popes and took an orthodox stance toward church moral and theological teachings. At the same time, his concern for the poor, sharpened by his training as a social worker, inclined him toward advocating projects to help the disadvantaged. 
He was thoroughly a New Yorker, an unabashed booster of the city who never lost the traces of Irish speech mannerisms or his socially gregarious urban ways.
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