Bernardin Gantin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Styles of Bernardin Cardinal Gantin |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Palestrina (suburbicarian) |
Bernardin Cardinal Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the highest-ranking black African in the history of the Catholic Church, though three early Popes came from the Mediterranean shores of the African landmass. Born in Toffo, Benin, his name means tree of iron (gan, tree and tin, iron), which explains his coat of arms.
He entered the minor seminary at age 14 in Benin, and achieved priesthood in 1951 under Archbishop Louis Parisot. In 1953 he was sent to Rome to study theology and Canon law. He was consecrated bishop of Tipasa of Mauritania and Auxiliary of Cotonou in 1957 by Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant, to whose then post of Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals he would one day succeed. In 1960, Pope John XXIII appointed him Archbishop of Cotonou. After he attended the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI appointed him to the Roman Curia and made him a Cardinal in the consistory of 1977. He was named President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum by Pope John Paul I, the only administrative appointment of that month-long papacy. During the Conclave following John Paul I's death, Cardinal Gantin was thought to be one of the papabili, those cardinals who are considered favorites to be elected pope.
Under Pope John Paul II he headed the Congregation for Bishops, supervising episcopal appointments throughout the world, from 1984 to 1998. Cardinal Bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Palestrina since 1986, he was Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1993 to 2002 when he retired to move home to Benin. (He added the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia when he became dean and relinquished it when he retired.) Because he turned 80 on May 8, 2002, Cardinal Gantin was not eligible to vote in the 2005 Papal Election.
Gantin died in Paris on 13 May 2008, five days after his 86th birthday.[1] The Beninese government declared three days of mourning for him, beginning on 14 May.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Africa's leading cardinal, has died; The Times, 14 May 2008
- ^ "Benin starts three-day national mourning for late Cardinal Gantin", African Press Agency, May 14, 2008.
[edit] External links
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by Louis Parisot |
Archbishop of Cotonou 1960 – 1971 |
Succeeded by Christophe Adimou |
| Preceded by Agnelo Cardinal Rossi |
Dean of the College of Cardinals 1993 – 2002 |
Succeeded by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) |
| Preceded by Sebastino Cardinal Baggio |
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops April 8, 1984–June 25, 1988 |
Succeeded by Lucas Cardinal Moreira Neves |
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