Bernardin Gantin
Bernardin Cardinal Gantin (born May 8, 1922 in Toffo , Benin ; † May 13, 2008 in Paris , France ) was a Cardinal Curia of the Roman Catholic Church and dean of the College of Cardinals from 1993 to 2002 . From 1984 to 1998 he headed the Congregation for Bishops .
Life
Gantin was born the son of a railroad worker. After school he joined in 1936 in the seminary of Benin and received on 14 January 1951 in Lome by Archbishop Louis Parisot , the sacrament of Holy Orders . He then taught languages at the seminar. From 1953 Gantin studied in Rome, among other things at the Lateran University . He graduated in theology and canon law .
On December 11, 1956, Gantin was by Pope Pius XII. appointed titular bishop of Tipasa in Mauretania and auxiliary bishop in Cotonou . The episcopal ordination donated him on February 3, 1957 Eugène Cardinal Tisserant , the then Cardinal Dean and Cardinal Bishop of Ostia ; Co -consecrators were the Curia Bishop Pietro Sigismondi and André-Pierre Duirat , Bishop of Bouaké , Ivory Coast.
Pope John XXIII appointed Gantin on January 5, 1960 Archbishop of Cotonou. In 1971 Pope Paul VI brought him . as Curia Bishop to Rome. He worked for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” .
Pope Paul VI accepted him on June 27, 1977 as a cardinal deacon with the title deaconry Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re in the college of cardinals ; he was the first colored Curia Cardinal. This was followed by positions as president of the papal councils Cor Unum and Iustitia et Pax . He also took part in the two conclaves of 1978.
Pope John Paul II appointed Gantin on April 8, 1984 Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America . On June 25 of the same year he was appointed cardinal priest while retaining his title diaconia ; on September 29, 1986 he became Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina .
On July 3, 1988, the Congregation for the Bishops published under his leadership a letter to the Pius Brotherhood , in which they were accused of schismatic aspirations. On June 5, 1993, the cardinal bishops of the suburbicarian bishoprics elected him cardinal dean , making Gantin cardinal bishop of Ostia at the same time .
Occasionally he was traded as a possible Pope. Cardinal Gantin resigned on June 25, 1998 for reasons of age from the offices of Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
On November 30, 2002, John Paul II granted Bernardin Gantin's age-related resignation from the post of Cardinal Dean. He returned to Benin and did not take part in the 2005 conclave because he had exceeded the age limit . Gantin died at the age of 86 in the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou in Paris. He was buried in Ouidah, Benin .
literature
- Bernardin Cardinal Gantin , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 39/2008 of 23 September 2008, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely accessible)
Web links
- Entry on Bernardin Gantin on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Official biography of the Vatican
- Letter from Pope John Paul II to Cardinal Bernardin Gantin
Individual evidence
- ↑ Who will succeed Pope John Paul II? In: Die Zeit , No. 21/1997
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gantin, Bernardin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gantin, Cardinal Bernardin (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Benin Cardinal Curia and Cardinal Dean |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 8, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toffo , Benin |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 2008 |
| Place of death | Paris , France |