it easier to obtain an annulment of marriage, and gave several public lectures in 2003 outlining the changes. He retired before the changes were implemented, and the final document, Dignitas connubii, did not go as far he had expected, reaffirming existing doctrine instead. Pompedda was appointed as the Cardinal Grand Prior of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George by order of the Grand Master, the Duke of Castro. In November 2003, he became the Ecclesiastical Counsellor of the Order by appointment of Pope John Paul II. This position continued under Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Pompedda died in Rome of a brain hemorrhage. He was buried in a tomb in the cathedral in Ozieri. On 18 February 2010, his remains were reinterred in a specially constructed sarcophagus in the cathedral of Ozieri at the chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The requiem mass was celebrated at 5 pm, presided by Bishop Sergio Pintor of Ozieri. At the end of the mass, Mgr Giuseppe Sciacca, judge of the Roman Rota and a long time collaborator of Cardinal Pompedda, read a special message sent for the occasion by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B., secretary of State, in the name of Pope Benedict XVI. References External links Bio from ewtn.com Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church News article about Pompedda's resignation, 28 May 2004 Obituary, ''The Times, 3 November 2006 1929 births 2006 deaths Sardinian Roman Catholic priests People from Ozieri 21st-century Italian cardinals Almo Collegio Capranica alumni Prefects of the Apostolic Signatura Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests