Several thousand people attend funeral mass for Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík

Several thousand people attended the funeral on Friday of Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík in the Moravian town of Velehrad, which is a popular pilgrimage destination for Czech Roman Catholics. Cardinal Špidlík, a Jesuit cleric and theologian, died at the age of 90 on April 16 in Rome, where he had spent several decades. Friday’s mass was served by the archbishop of Olomouc, Jan Graubner. Pope Benedict XVI took part in an earlier ceremony in memory of the cardinal in the Vatican. His remains will be interred in a tomb in Velehrad basilica at a future date.