To the most admirable of Cardinals

Pope Benedict XVI has congratulated Cardinal Alfons Stickler (97) on the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. In a letter published today, Benedict thanked the Austrian Salesian for his service to and within the Church.

Cardinal Stickler is currently the oldest living cardinal. In the letter, the Pope recalled that as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had been Stickler's neighbour in his private flat for many years. At that time, he had felt Stickler's humanity and priestly piety.

Stickler was born in Neunkirchen (Lower Austria) in 1910. After graduating from high school, he entered the novitiate of the Salesians of Don Bosco. After studying philosophy and theology, he was ordained priest in the Lateran Basilica in Rome on 27 March 1937. He then studied ecclesiastical and secular law at the Lateran University. He then taught at the Canon Law Faculty of the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome- the Pontificia Studiorum Universitas Salesiana, becoming Dean of this Faculty and finally Rector of the University.

On Ash Wednesday 1971, Stickler was appointed Head of the Vatican Library by Pope Paul VI. On 9 September 1983, John Paul II appointed him "Pro-Librarian of the Holy Roman Church" and at the same time named him Archbishop with the Titular See of Bolsena. On 7 July 1984, John Paul II also placed him in charge of the Vatican Secret Archives and in April 1985 he was appointed to the College of Cardinals.

During his tenure, Stickler worked tirelessly to preserve and modernise the Vatican Library, which is not only considered the repository of the "world's richest collection of manuscripts" (around 70,000), but also contains one million printed books, around 150,000 copperplate engravings and an extremely valuable coin collection. Among other things, a large bunker was built under the direction of the Austrian cardinal, in which the most important treasures of the library (including the "Codex Vaticanus") are housed in a bomb-proof facility. In the summer of 1988, Stickler resigned from his post as head of the Vatican Library and Secret Archives for reasons of age. He also lives in retirement in Rome.

Venerabili Fratri Nostro
ALFONSO MARIAE S.R.E. CARDINALI STICKLER, S.D.B.

Valde iucundum vitae sacerdotalis iubilaeum celebraturum novimus te, Venerabilis Frater Noster, septuagesimam videlicet presbyteralis tuae ordinationis anniversariam memoriam. De hac singulari recordatione totaque frugifera humili et fideli in Ecclesiae bonum perfecta navitate, Nos tecum omnino laetamur atque Nostra tibi omina fraternaeque caritatis vota hasce per Litteras expromere festinamus.
Catholicae familiae Austriacae filius, adolescens attractus es charismate sancti Ioannis Bosco et Societatem S. Francisci Salesii ingressus es. Optimam institutionem recepisti in Patria tua, in Germania et in Italia. Die vicesimo septimo mensis Martii anno MCMXXXVII Romae in Basilica Lateranensi sacerdos es ordinatus. Inde studia tua prosequens in iure canonico et civili, lauream consecutus es atque alumnos docere coepisti apud Facultatem Iuris Canonici Pontificii Athenaei Salesiani, ubi deinde factus es Decanus ac postea Rector Magnificus. Primus insuper ibidem fuisti Praeses Instituti Altioris Latinitatis.

Die XXV mensis Martii anno MCMLXXI nominatus es a Paulo VI, Decessore Nostro ven. mem., Praefectus Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae, cuius perdiligenter curavisti amplificationem et renovationem. Cooperationem quoque fovens cum variis doctis viris et insignibus universitatibus in orbe, multum sane contulisti ad scientiae et culturae emolumentum. Inspectis meritis tuis, Servus Dei Ioannes Paulus II die VIII mensis Septembris elegit te Pro-Bibliothecarium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, Ipsemet eodem anno in Sollemnitate Omnium Sanctorum episcopalem tibi impertiit consecrationem, ac deinde te constituit etiam Pro-Archivistam Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae et anno MCMLXXXV inter Patres Cardinales annumeravit.

Nos autem tot per annos, praepositi Congregationi pro Doctrina Fidei, te fere proximum domesticum habuimus tuamque humanam affabilitatem et sacerdotalem caritatem et pietatem experti sumus. Quapropter nunc, hac in faustissima celebratione presbyteratus tui, benevolentiam Nostram tibi palam demonstrare cupimus Nostramque gratitudinem ostendere pro tota diuturna industria in universalis Ecclesiae utilitatem expleta. Plurimi te aestimantes, qui inter Purpuratos Patres es senior et tamquam Patriarcha factus, tecum Deo laudis canticum extollere volumus pro omnibus Eius beneficiis tam copiose tibi collatis.

Accipe ergo, Venerabilis Frater Noster, hoc benevolentiae Nostrae documentum atque Benedictionem Nostram Apostolicam, pignus caelestis copiosae remunerationis, quam tibi in primis, deinde Familiae et Patriae tuae, universae etiam Societati Sancti Francisci Salesii omnibusque tecum caritate coniunctis peramanter impertimur.

Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, die XXVI mensis Martii, anno MMVII, Pontificatus Nostri secundo.

The Latin letter repeats the career as above and then finishes.

But for so many years We, as the superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, have had you almost as close to home and have experienced your human affability and priestly charity and piety. Therefore now, in this most auspicious celebration of your priesthood, we desire to show you openly Our benevolence, and to show Our gratitude for all the long-lasting energy discharged for the benefit of the universal Church. Most esteeming you, who are the oldest among the Cardinals and who have been made like unto a Patriarch, we want to lift up a song of praise to God with you for all His favours bestowed upon you so abundantly.

Accept, then, Our Venerable Brother, this document of Our benevolence and Our Apostolic Blessing, a pledge of abundant heavenly reward, which we impart to you first, then to your Family and Country, to the whole Society of Saint Francis of Sales, and to all those united in love with you.

From the Vatican, on the 26th day of March, in the year 2007, the second of Our Pontificate.