Paul Josef Cardinal Cordes was born in Kirchhundern, Germany, in 1934 and ordained a priest in 1961. After studying medicine, philosophy and theology in Münster, Paderborn and Lyon, he was awarded a doctorate in 1971 under the direction of Cardinal Karl Lehmann. He worked for the Secretariat of the German Bishops’ Conference and in 1975 was named Auxiliary Bishop of Paderborn by Pope Paul VI. In 1980, Pope John Paul II called him to Rome as Vice President of the Pontifi cal Council for the Laity. Appointed President of the Pontifi cal council “Cor Unum” in 1995, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.