The pope mourned Cardinal Bernadine Gantin who died Tuesday, describing him as an eminent son of Benin and Africa who won great respect within the universal Church.

The cardinal, one of the few African clerics to hold a high ranking position at the Vatican, as dean of the College of Cardinals, died in Paris, France, aged 86.

The pope sent a telegram to Archbishop Marcel Honorat Leon Agboton of Cotonou, saying he united himself in prayer with the bishops of Benin, its faithful and the family of the late cardinal.

"I ask God the Father, from Whom all mercy comes, to welcome into His light and peace this eminent son of Benin and of Africa who, universally esteemed, was animated by a profound apostolic spirit and by an exalted sense of the Church and her mission in the world."

Pope Benedict further said he gave thanks to the Lord for Cardinal Gantin's fruitful ministry, first as archbishop of Cotonou and then, for many years, at the Holy See "which he served faithfully and generously, especially in the Congregation for Bishops and as a member of the College of Cardinals, of which he was also a much-respected dean."