Cardinal Karl Lehmann, longtime president of the German bishops’ conference and a respected theologian who participated in the Second Vatican Council, died March 11.

The 81-year-old cardinal died at his home in Mainz after declining health and a stroke in September.

Cardinal Lehmann’s death was marked by an outpouring of tributes from all major German media, including Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Deutsche Welle, and German radio stations. Although memorials were diverse, all noted the cardinal for his strong opinions, intellectualism and boisterous personality.

Cardinal Lehmann led the German bishops’ conference for 21 years, resigning in 2008 because of health issues. However, he continued to lead the Diocese of Mainz – where he was appointed in 1983 – until 2016, when he turned 80.

The cardinal, who participated in the Second Vatican Council, worked to improve the position of women and laypeople in the church.

He was one of three German bishops who in 1994 allowed Communion to be given to Catholics who were divorced and remarried without their first marriages being annulled, until the Vatican stopped the practice. After months of dialogue with the three bishops, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a letter to the world’s bishops restating that Catholics in that situation could not receive Communion.

He was a supporter of dialogue with the main Lutheran church organization in Germany and joined with its leaders in making public statements on social issues.

St. John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2001.

His death leaves the College of Cardinals with 215 members, including 117 cardinals who are under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.