Pierre-Marie Gerlier
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| Styles of Pierre-Marie Cardinal Gerlier |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Lyon |
Pierre-Marie Cardinal Gerlier (January 14, 1880—January 17, 1965) was a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1937 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.
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[edit] Biography
Pierre-Marie Gerlier was born in Versailles, and received his vocation to a career in the Church later in life than most. Indeed, after attending the University of Bordeaux, he studied at the seminary in Issy for late vocations. Gerlier studied at the seminary in Fribourg before serving as an officer of the French Army in World War I, during which he was wounded and captured. Ordained to the priesthood on July 29, 1921, he then did pastoral work in Paris, where he was also the archdiocesan Director of Catholic Works.
On May 14, 1929, Gerlier was appointed Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 2 from Louis-Ernest Cardinal Dubois, with Bishops Benjamin Roland-Gosselin and Maurice Dubourg serving as co-consecrators, in Notre Dame Cathedral. Gerlier was named Archbishop of Lyon on July 30, 1937, and was created Cardinal Priest of Ss. Trinità al Monte Pincio by Pope Pius in the consistory of December 13 of that same year. As Lyon's archbishop, he held the honorary title of Primate of Gaul. From 1945 to 1948, he served as Vice-President of the French Episcopal Conference.
During World War II, Gerlier condemned Pierre Laval's deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps[1], the severe conditions of which he also opposed[2]. Moreover, he asked that religious orders take Jewish children into hiding[3].
He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave (at which he was considered papabile[4]), which selected Pope Pius XII, and participated again in the 1958 conclave, which resulted in the election of Pope John XXIII. Living long enough to attend only the first three sessions of the Second Vatican Council, Gerlier was also a cardinal elector in the conclave of 1963 that chose Pope Paul VI.
The Cardinal died from a heart attack in Lyon, at age 85[5]. He is buried in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
[edit] Trivia
- He championed the Worker-Priest movement[6] and ecumenism, including endorsing the Taizé Community[7].
- In 1950, Gerlier described the film Caroline chérie, starring French sex symbol Martine Carol, as "a scandalous display of vice"[8].
- He received Édouard Herriot's deathbed conversion to Catholicism in 1957[9].
[edit] References
- ^ TIME Magazine. The Inquisition September 28, 1942
- ^ Leaders of the Church During the Vichy Regime. Cardinal Pierre Marie Gerlier
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ TIME Magazine. Death of a Pope February 20, 1939
- ^ TIME Magazine. Milestones January 29, 1965
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ TIME Magazine. The Brothers of Taize September 5, 1960
- ^ TIME Magazine. The Cardinal & Caroline June 22, 1953
- ^ TIME Magazine. At the Bedside November 30, 1959
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| Preceded by Alexandre-Philibert Poirier |
Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes May 14, 1929–July 30, 1937 |
Succeeded by Georges-Eugène-Emile Choquet |
| Preceded by Louis-Joseph Maurin |
Archbishop of Lyon July 30, 1937–January 17, 1965 |
Succeeded by Jean-Marie Villot |
