Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot
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His Eminence Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot (October 11, 1905 – March 9, 1979) was a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1965 to 1967, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1967 to 1969, Vatican Secretary of State from 1969 to 1979, and Chamberlain of the Roman Church (or Camerlengo) from 1970 to 1979. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.
[edit] Biography
He was born in Saint-Amant-Tallende, Clermont-Ferrand, to Joseph and Marie (née Laville) Villot; he was an only child. Before serving in the military until August 2, 1924, he studied for the priesthood in Riom, Clermont, Lyon. He became a Marist novice on September 7, 1925, but left the order three months later in December. Villot went on to study at the Institut Catholique in Paris and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (where he earned a [[licentiate in canon law and a doctorate in theology). He was ordained a priest on April 19, 1930, by Archbishop Alfred-Henri-Marie Baudrillart. Villot was then incardinated into the Archdiocese of Paris, and from 1931 to 1934 he served as secretary to Bishop Pierre-Marie Gerlier of Tarbes-Lourdes. He taught at the Clermont seminary and the Catholic University of Lyon, becoming vice-rector of the latter in 1942 and holding the post for the next eight years. Working in the French Episcopal Conference in the early 1950s, Villot was appointed auxiliary bishop of Paris and titular bishop of Vinda on September 2], 1954. He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 12 from Maurice Cardinal Feltin, with Archbishop Emile Guerry of Cambrai and Bishop Pierre de la Chanonie of Clermont as co-consecrators.
On December 17, 1959, Villot was promoted to coadjutor archbishop of Lyon and titular archbishop of Bosporus. During the Second Vatican Council, he served as the Council's Undersecretary. He later succeeded Cardinal Gerlier as Archbishop of Lyon on January 17, 1965, and in the next month, was created Cardinal Priest of SS. Trinitá al Monte Pincio by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of February 22. He was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in the Roman Curia on April 7, 1967, and he would henceforth play a very prominent role in the reign of Paul VI, being named Cardinal Secretary of State on May 2, 1969. Villot was named Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, also known as the Camerlengo, on October 16, 1970.
| Styles of Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Lyon |
On July 15, 1971, he was appointed President of the newly-formed Pontifical Council Cor Unum. It was a position he held until September 4, 1978, when he resigned from it during the pontificate of Pope John Paul I.
Elevated to Cardinal Bishop of Frascati on December 12, 1974, Villot remained Secretary of State for the remainder of Paul VI's reign, and was remained in that same capacity under both John Paul I and John Paul II, although there is some speculation that he might have been slated for replacement by John Paul I had the Pope reigned longer.
Villot participated as a cardinal elector in both the August and October conclaves of 1978, which selected John Paul I and John Paul II, respectively.
He died on March 9, 1979, at 9:25 p.m. in his Vatican apartment. John Paul II celebrated his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the following March 13, and his remains were buried in the crypt of SS. Trinitá al Monte Pincio.
[edit] Controversy
- Conspiracy theorists and followers of Veronica Lueken maintain that Cardinal Villot was heavily involved in the alleged assassination of Pope John Paul I, if not the Pope's actual killer.
- In July 1976 the newsletter Bulletin de l'Occident Chrétien claimed that Cardinal Villot himself, among other high-ranking Church officials, was a member of the Freemasons, being enrolled in Zürich on August 6, 1966, with the Masonic code name of "Jeanni".
[edit] External links
- Catholic Hierarchy
- Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
- List of alleged Freemasons among the Catholic hierarchy
| Preceded by Pierre-Marie Cardinal Gerlier |
Archbishop of Lyon 1965 - 1967 |
Succeeded by Alexandre Cardinal Renard |
| Preceded by Pietro Cardinal Ciriaci |
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy 1967 - 1969 |
Succeeded by John Cardinal Wright |
| Preceded by Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani |
Cardinal Secretary of State 1969 - 1979 |
Succeeded by Agostino Cardinal Casaroli |
| Preceded by Benedetto Aloisi Cardinal Masella |
Camerlengo 1970 - 1979 |
Succeeded by Paolo Cardinal Bertoli |
| Preceded by none |
President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum 1971 - 1978 |
Succeeded by Bernardin Cardinal Gantin |
