Bernardin Gantin(8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was aBenineseprelate of theCatholic Churchwho held senior positions in theRoman Curiafor twenty years and the highest position in theCollege of Cardinalsfor nine years. His prominence in the hierarchy of the Church was unprecedented for an African and has been equaled by few non-Italians. He began his career in his native country first as an auxiliary bishop and then as archbishop ofCotonou.In 1971 he began his thirty-year career in the Curia. After he had spent several years in the role of senior assistant, he held a series of senior positions as president of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace,president of thePontifical CouncilCor Unum,and prefect of the SacredCongregation for Bishops
Bernardin Gantin | |
|---|---|
| Dean of the College of Cardinals | |
 Gantin during his early years as a cardinal | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| See | Palestrina |
| Installed | 5 June 1993 |
| Term ended | 30 November 2002 |
| Predecessor | Agnelo Rossi |
| Successor | Joseph Alois Ratzinger |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 14 January 1951 by Louis Parisot |
| Consecration | 3 February 1957 byEugène Tisserant |
| Created cardinal | 27 June 1977 byPope Paul VI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 May 1922 |
| Died | 13 May 2008(aged 86) Paris,France |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Sainthood | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Title as Saint | Servant of God |
| Styles of Bernardin Gantin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Palestrina(suburbicarian) |
Pope Paul VImade him a cardinal in 1977,Pope John Paul IIpromoted him to the rank of cardinal bishop in 1986, and his peers elected him dean, the highest office in theCollege of Cardinals,in 1993. He retired and returned to Benin when he turned 80. Hiscanonizationprocess has been initiated.[1]
Early career
editBernadin Gantin was born inToffo,French Dahomey(nowBenin), on 8 May 1922. His name means "tree of iron" (gan,iron andtin,tree ). His father was a railway worker.[2]He entered theminor seminaryinOuidahat age fourteen and was ordained to the priesthood on 14 January 1951 inLomé,Togo,by Archbishop Louis Parisot of Cotonou. He then fulfilled pastoral assignments while also teaching languages at the seminary. In 1953 he was sent to Rome where he studied at thePontifical Urban Universityand then at thePontifical Lateran University,where he earned his licentiate in theology and canon law.[3]
On 11 December 1956,Pope Pius XIIappointed himtitular bishopofTipasaand auxiliary bishop ofCotonou.[4]He received his episcopal consecration on 3 February 1957 from CardinalEugène Tisserant,Dean of the College of Cardinals.[5]On 5 January 1960,Pope John XXIIIappointed himArchbishop of Cotonou.[6]As archbishop, he attended all four sessions of theSecond Vatican Council(1962–1965), where he first became friends with the future Pope John Paul II.[7]
He was chairman of the West African Episcopal Conference.[5]
Roman curia
editPope Paul VIappointed him to theRoman Curiaand gave him a series of assignments, starring as adjunct secretary of theCongregation for the Evangelization of Peoplesin 1971 and secretary of that Congregation in 1973. On 19 December 1975 he was named Vice President of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peaceand on 5 January 1976 Gantin received the additional responsibilities of the Vice President of the Pontifical CouncilCor Unum,as Pope Paul was combining those two departments.[3]
In 1976, Pope Paul appointed him head of the President of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, making him the first African to head a curial department. This commission was headed by a cardinal, so Gantin held the titlePro-Presidentuntil Pope Paul made him a cardinal on 27 June 1977. He was made a member of the order of cardinal deacons and assigned the deaconry ofSacro Cuore di Cristo Re.[8]
On 4 September 1978, he was named President of the Pontifical CouncilCor UnumbyPope John Paul I,the only administrative appointment of his month-long papacy.[9]Gantin met with John Paul I the day before he died.[10]
He participated in the 1978 conclaves that elected PopesJohn Paul IandJohn Paul II.[10]At the first of them he was reportedly one of three cardinals who counted the votes. During the second of these conclaves, Gantin was thought to be one of thepapabili,those cardinals who are thought to have a chance of being elected pope.[11]
In 1982, he accompanied Pope John Paul on his visit to Benin.[11]
On 8 April 1984,Pope John Paul IIappointed him prefect of theCongregation for Bishops,[12]which supervises episcopal appointments in the non-missionaryLatin Ritedioceses throughout the world. He was also made president of thePontifical Commission for Latin America.On 25 June 1984, Gantin opted to become a member of the order of cardinal priests.[13]For the next fourteen years he collaborated with Pope John Paul in shaping the hierarchy of the Church, both in making appointments and in managing the agendas for the periodic visits bishops make to consult with the pope and the Curia.[7]On the pope's behalf he managed appointments of conservative prelates in dioceses that did not welcome them in the Netherlands and Switzerland, removed an outspoken liberal French bishop, contended with Latin American advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples, and the excommunication ofMarcel Lefebvre,with whom he had worked in Africa in the 1960s.[7]Years later, John Paul referred to their years of "regular contact and an almost unique familiarity".[14]
Cardinal bishop and dean
editOn 29 September 1986, Pope John Paul appointed Gantincardinal bishopof thesuburbicarian dioceseofPalestrina,[15]one of six Latin-church members of the highest rank of cardinals, responsible for electing the dean and sub dean of the college who manage the conclave that elects the pope.
The six Latin-church cardinal bishops elect the dean and subdean, who takes his position when the pope consents to the election. On 5 June 1993, Gantin was elected and confirmedDean of the College of Cardinals,which gave him the additional title cardinal bishop of Ostia. He was the first non-European to hold this office and remains the only one.[16]
He ended his service as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on 25 June 1998. Less than a year later, in April 1999, he endorsed a views of CardinalVincenzo Fagiolothat bishops need to consider themselves married to their sees and expect their relationship to be lifelong. He said he had been shocked by overt expressions of "careerism" and "social climbing". He suggested that bishops should be transferred "to less developed, more difficult sees rather than to more comfortable and prestigious ones". He also said that there should be no connection between a see and a place in the College of Cardinals, offering Milan as an example.[17]
On 29 November 2002, with the permission of Pope John Paul, he retired as Dean of the College of Cardinals and cardinal bishop of Ostia,[18][a]which required he reside in Rome. Now eighty years old, he retired to Cotonou,[5]which he had visited regularly throughout his years in Rome.[2]He remained cardinal bishop of Palestrina. Two years into his retirement he described his situation: "I left Rome in body but not in spirit. I am a Roman missionary in my country."[22]
In retirement he spoke more freely than he had while under the obligations of office. In 2006 he criticized his contemporary bishops in Africa: "If I have to make a complaint it would be this: if at one time the bishops moved little, today they travel too much. Sitting down, listening, praying with their own believers is more that ever necessary and urgent for them. Always keeping in mind what is set down in canon 395 of the Code of Canon Law on the obligation of residence in their diocese, they can also be an example to their own priests." He warned against allowing African priests to relocate permanently in Europe, to "roam the dioceses of the Western world more in search of their own material comfort than out of genuine pastoral zeal". And he warned European religious orders against such personnel transfers: "The European religious congregations on their last legs or threatened with extinction should not go seeking cheap reinvigoration among the young Churches in Asia or Africa."[23]
Death and legacy
editGantin died atPompidou Hospitalin Paris after a long illness on 13 May 2008, less than a week after being transferred there from Benin and five days after his 86th birthday.[2][5]The Beninese government declared three days of mourning for him, beginning on 14 May.[24]
Pope Benedict XVIvisited his tomb in the chapel of the Seminary of Saint Gall in Ouidah on 19 November 2011.[25]
In May 2013, Vatican officials inaugurated a chair named for him devoted to "Socializing Policy in Africa" at thePontifical Lateran University.[26]
TheCadjehoun Airport,Benin's main international airport, was named in his honor.[25][27]
Cause of beatification and canonization
editOn 30 January 2025, the Episcopal Conference of the Italian Region of Lazio, which includes the Diocese of Rome, has issued a favourable opinion for the opening of the cause forbeatificationof Gantin, the first African to lead theDicastery for Bishopsin the Vatican.[1][28]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^His retirement allowed CardinalJoseph Ratzingerto succeed him as dean, which some Vatican observers believe made Ratzinger's election as pope inevitable,[19]which may have motivated Gantin's repeated attempts to resign.[20]Another describes Gantin as "the inadvertent architect of Ratzinger's election" to the papacy.[21]
References
edit- ^ab"Cardinal Gantin's sainthood cause opens | News Headlines".catholicculture.org.Retrieved14 February2025.
- ^abc"Bernardin Gantin, Cardinal, 86, Is Dead".The New York Times.Associated Press. 16 May 2008.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^ab"The death of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Dean Emeritus of the College of Cardinals, first African appointed by the Pope to a prominent position in the Roman Curia".Agenzia Fides.14 May 2008.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. XXXXIX. 1957. p. 81.
- ^abcdCardinal Bernardin Gantin, Africa's leading cardinal, has died[dead link];The Times,14 May 2008
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LII. 1960. p. 328.
- ^abc"Cardinal Bernardin Gantin: Ally of John Paul II who exercised great influence at the Vatican as head of the Congregation for Bishops".The Independent.23 October 2011.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LXIX. 1977. pp. 377, 380.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LXX. 1978. p. 755.
- ^abGantin, Bernadin (September 2003).""They were all very content"".30Giorni(Interview). Interviewed by Gianni Cardinale.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^abStanford, Peter."Cardinal Bernadin Gantin".The Guardian.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LXXVI. 1984. p. 508.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LXXVI. 1984. p. 755.
- ^"Letter of John Paul II to Cardinal Bernadin Gantin on the 50th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood".Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 14 December 2000.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF).Vol. LXXVIII. 1986. p. 1070.
- ^Mancini, Marco (30 August 2021)."I Decani del Sacro Collegio: il Cardinale Bernardin Gantin"(in Italian).Retrieved2 January2024.
- ^Gantin, Bernadin (May 2008).""Once a bishop is appointed to a particular see, he must generally and in principle stay there for ever"".30Giorni(Interview). Interviewed by Gianni Cardinale.Retrieved14 March2021.This interview conducted in April 1999 was republished in 2008.
- ^"Lettera del Santo Padre all'Em.mo Card. Bernadin Gantin per la Dispensa dall'Ufficio di Decano del Collegio Cardinalizio, 30.11.2002"(in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 19 March 2002.Retrieved13 March2021.The pope's letter is date 19 March 2002 and published on 29 November without explanation.
- ^Allen Jr., John L. (19 November 2011)."In voodoo capital, Benedict blasts 'occultism and evil spirits'".National Catholic Reporter.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^Elie, Paul (January–February 2006)."The Year of Two Popes".The Atlantic.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^Allen Jr., John L. (2007).The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church.Crown Publishing Group.ISBN9780307424105.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^Gantin, Bernadin (January 2005).""I remain a Roman missionary in my country"".30Giorni(Interview). Interviewed by Gianni Cardinale.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^Gantin, Bernadin (June 2006)."My Africa blessed by the Lord".30Giorni(Interview). Interviewed by Gianni Cardinale.Retrieved14 March2021.
- ^"Benin starts three-day national mourning for late Cardinal Gantin".African Press Agency. 14 May 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2008.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^abAllen Jr., John L. (20 November 2011)."The lonely liberation theology of Benedict XVI".National Catholic Reporter.Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^"Conferenza Stampa di Presentazione della Cattedra" Cardinal Bernadin Gantin "nella Pontificia Università Lateranense"(PDF)(Press release) (in Italian). 25 May 2013.Retrieved12 March2021.
- ^"Réaménagement de l'Aéroport International Cardinal Bernadin Gantin de Cotonou".Agence National de l'Aviation Civile(in French).Retrieved13 March2021.
- ^"Italian bishops initiate beatification process for Beninese cardinal".La croix international.23 January 2025.Retrieved14 February2025.
External links
edit- "Gantin, Card. Bernadin".Holy See Press Office. Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2005.
- "Bernardin Cardinal Gantin".Catholic Hierarchy.[self-published]
- "Gantin, Bernadin".The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.[self-published]
