Deceased In 2007

Among the prominent Catholics who died this year were:

• Former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, 88, who had been U.N. secretary-general from 1972 to 1981, June 14 in Vienna, Austria. Controversy raged during his 1986 campaign for the Austrian presidency, a largely ceremonial post, because he had not been fully truthful about his activities as a German army officer during World War II. During his term as Austrian president, Pope John Paul II was the only Western leader to officially meet him as a head of state.

• Phil Rizzuto, 89, a native of Queens who went on to become a Hall of Fame shortstop and later broadcaster for the New York Yankees, Aug. 14 in West Orange, N.J.

• Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, 80, the Jewish-born former archbishop of Paris who defended the right of believers to have a say in public debates, Aug. 5 in Paris.

• Maria Julia Hernandez, 68, who for more than two decades led the San Salvador Archdiocese’s internationally recognized human rights agency Tutela Legal, March 30 in El Salvador. She had worked alongside Archbishop Oscar A. Romero, who was killed in 1980.

• Jesuit Father Robert F. Drinan, 86, the first Catholic priest to vote in the U.S. Congress, Jan. 28 in Washington. He represented Massachusetts’ 3rd District in Congress for five terms, from 1971 to 1981, but did not run again on orders from his Jesuit superiors.

• Sen. Thomas Eagleton, 77, the ill-fated vice presidential nominee who had to step down because of treatment for depression, March 4, at St. Mary’s Health Center in the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights from a combination of heart, respiratory and other problems. Former senator from Missouri, Eagleton’s lasting moment in the spotlight came in 1972 when he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for vice president. Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota topped the ticket.

• Bowie Kuhn, 80, who became deeply involved in Catholic causes following his 1969-84 tenure as baseball commissioner and was elected in December to baseball’s Hall of Fame, March 15 in Jacksonville, Fla.

• Jack Valenti, 85, a former White House assistant who ran the Motion Picture Association of America for almost four decades, April 26 in Washington.

• Jane Wyman, whose age was variously placed at between 90 and 93, an Oscar-winning actress once married to future President Ronald Reagan and who joined the Catholic Church as an adult, Sept. 10 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

• Msgr. William Varvaro, 67, pastor of St. Margaret’s parish, Middle Village, and former Chancellor and Judicial Vicar of the diocese, Jan. 25, after suffering a stroke while on vacation.

• Msgr. Cornelius Mahoney, 58, director of SS. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center, and former director of the Diocesan Planning Office, June 15.

• Henry Hyde, 83, the former Republican congressman from Illinois whose name became synonymous with efforts to limit federal funding of abortion, Nov. 29 in Chicago.

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