Bernardin Gantin
Cardinal Bernardin Gantin ( born May 8, 1922 in Toffo, Benin; † 13 May 2008 Paris, France ) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Life
Gantin was born the son of a railway worker. After school he joined in 1936 the seminary of Benin and received on January 14, 1951 in Lomé by Archbishop Louis Parisot, the sacrament of Holy Orders. Subsequently, he taught languages at the seminary. From 1953 Gantin studied in Rome, among others, at the Lateran University. He has a degree in theology and canon law.
On December 11, 1956 Gantin of Pope Pius XII. appointed Titular Bishop of Tipasa in Mauretania and Auxiliary Bishop ordered in Cotonou. The episcopal ordination he received 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.
John XXIII. Gantin appointed on January 5, 1960 Archbishop of Cotonou. 1971 brought him Pope Paul VI. Curia as 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. took him on 27 June 1977 as a cardinal deacon with the title Diakonia Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re at the College of Cardinals; he was the first black cardinal. He subsequently held positions as president of the pontifical council Cor Unum and Justice and Peace. In addition, he took part in the two conclaves of 1978.
John Paul II appointed Gantin on April 8, 1984 the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. On 25 June of the same year he was appointed while retaining its title Diakonia cardinal priest; On 29 September 1986 he was Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina.
On 3 July 1988, the Congregation for Bishops published under his direction a letter to the SSPX in which their schismatic efforts were accused. On 5 June 1993, the cardinal bishops of the dioceses suburbicarian elected him as Cardinal Dean, which Gantin same time was Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.
Chance he was traded as a possible Pope.
On 30 November 2002 John Paul II granted the age-related resignation of Bernardin Gantin. He returned to Benin and took because of the age limit not participate in the conclave of 2005. Gantin died at the age of 86 years at Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou in Paris. He was buried in Benin Ouidah.