 On 21 February 2001 he received the Paderborn archbishop as a cardinal priest with the titular church of "San Liborio" into the college of cardinals in the largest consistory of modern church history.Degenhardt held various ecclesiastical offices, including the leadership of the Eccumenical Commission of the German Bishops Conference from 1974 to 1976.Degenhardt died suddenly in the early morning of 25 July 2002 in the archiepiscopal palace in Paderborn at the age of 76.