Havana, July 26 (RHC)—Cuban Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega, has died at the age of 82.

According to an official note, his most Reverend Eminence Jaime Lucas Cardinal Ortega Alamino, Archbishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de La Habana passed away at dawn this Friday, July 26, 2019.

The text said that his priestly vocation, his academic formation and human sensitivity allowed him to attain the highest ecclesiastical dignity.

“His tireless pastoral work and his love for Cuba led him to decisively strengthen the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the State,” the note added.

Cardinal Ortega’s funeral will take place in Havana’s Cathedral.

Ortega became archbishop of Havana in 1981, and in the island’s history he was its second Cardinal. He was preceded by Manuel Arteaga Betancourt .

Ortega studied theology in Quebec and became parish priest in the mid-1960s in his birthplace of Jagüey Grande in Matanzas province.

He was named bishop of Pinar del Rio by Pope John Paul II in 1978 and archbishop of Havana three years later. The pope appointed him cardinal in 1994.