Hyacinthe Thiandoum

Hyacinthe Cardinal Thiandoum ( born February 2, 1921 in Poponguine, Senegal, † May 18, 2004 in Aix -en- Provence, France) was Archbishop of Dakar.

Life

Thiandoums father was a catechist. He entered the seminary in Dakar and was consecrated on 18 April 1949 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the apostolic envoy to the French-speaking parts of Africa, as a priest. Two years later he began studying theology in Rome and returned back in 1953. Thiandoum worked in 1960 as a priest of the cathedral in Dakar, a year later as Vicar General.

Hyacinthe Thiandoum was appointed in 1962 as Archbishop of Dakar, as a successor to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. He received his episcopal consecration on 20 May 1962, the then- Internuncio for Senegal and later Archbishop of Reims, Émile André Jean -Marie Maury.

He participated in the Second Vatican Council. Pope Paul VI. appointed him on 24 May 1976 for the Cardinal. His titular church of Santa Maria del Popolo was there. He participated in the conclave of August 1978 in part, the Pope John Paul I chose, and also the conclave from October 1978 was chosen in which Pope John Paul II.

Until 1987 he was President of the Episcopal Conference of Senegal and Mauritania, to an elected member of the Bishops Conference. Thiandoum was known for numerous inter-religious contacts, including to Muslims of his country, such as Thierno Saïdou Nourou Tall.

Thiandoum resigned on 2 June 2000 as Archbishop of Dakar and died on 18 May 2004.