Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger
Encyclopedia
Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger (ʒɑ̃ maʁi lystiʒe; 17 September 1926 – 5 August 2007) was a French cardinal
of the Roman Catholic Church
. He was Archbishop of Paris
from 1981 until his resignation in 2005. He was made a cardinal in 1983. A French website is entirely dedicated to his life and work.
from Będzin
, Charles and Gisèle Lustiger, who left Poland around World War I. Lustiger's father ran a hosiery shop. Aaron Lustiger studied at the Lycée Montaigne
in Paris, where he first encountered anti-Semitism
. Visiting Germany
in 1937, he was hosted by an anti-Nazi
Protestant family whose children had been required to join the Hitler Youth.
Sometime between the ages of ten and twelve, Lustiger came across a Protestant Bible
and felt inexplicably attracted to it. On the outbreak of war in September 1939 the family located to Orléans
.
In March 1940, during Holy Week
, the 13-year old Lustiger decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. On 21 August he was baptized
as Aaron Jean-Marie by the Bishop of Orléans
, Jules Marie Courcoux.
His sister converted later. In October 1940, the Vichy regime passed the first Statute on Jews
, which forced Jews to wear a yellow badge
. Although Jean-Marie Lustiger lived hidden in Orléans, his parents had to wear the badge
Lustiger, his father and sister sought refuge in unoccupied southern France, while his mother returned to Paris to run the family business. In September 1942, his mother was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where she died the following year. The surviving family returned to Paris after the war. Lustiger's father tried unsuccessfully to have his son's baptism annulled, and even sought the help of the chief rabbi of Paris.
with a literature degree in 1946. He then entered the seminary of the Carmelite fathers in Paris, and later the Institut Catholique de Paris
. After his first visit to Israel in 1951, he was ordained
to the priesthood
on 17 April 1954 by Bishop Émile-Arsène Blanchet, rector
of the Institut Catholique de Paris. From 1954 to 1959, he was a chaplain
at the Sorbonne, and for the next ten years, the director of Richelieu Centre, which trains university chaplains and counsels lay teachers and students from grandes écoles
such as the ÉNS-Fontenay-Saint-Cloud
or the Ecole des Chartes. From 1969 to 1979, he was vicar
of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal, in the wealthy XVIe arrondissement
of Paris, with his parochial vicar André Vingt-Trois
, who would later become his successor as Archbishop of Paris.
On 10 November 1979, Lustiger was appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishop of Orléans after a 15-month vacancy. John Paul II had been advised by Cardinal Paolo Bertoli
, who was displeased with a new illustrated Catechism
for French urban youth (Pierres vivantes) and was on bad terms with most of the French clergy.
Lustiger received episcopal consecration
on the 8 December 1979 from Cardinal François Marty
, with Archbishop Eugène Ernoult of Sens
and Bishop Daniel Pézeril serving as co-consecrators. When installed as bishop, Lustiger avoided all reference to his liberal predecessor Guy-Marie Riobé
, a pacifist close to Catholic Action
.
, succeeding Cardinal Marty. According to Georges Suffert, he was supported by a letter to John Paul II written by André Frossard
. The founder of the Traditionalist Catholic
group Society of St. Pius X
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
criticized his nomination, complaining that the function was given to "someone who is not truly of French origin." On the other hand, Lustiger's nomination was soon seen as a defeat by liberal French clergy.
A first-rate communicator and a personal friend of Jean Gélamur, head of the Catholic media group Bayard Presse
, Lustiger was particularly attentive to the media and developed Catholic radio and television channels (Radio Notre-Dame) after François Mitterrand
's liberalization of French media in 1981. He founded KTO
TV in 1999, which became a financial disaster. Lustiger also founded a new seminary
for training priests, by-passing the existing arrangements.
Considered quite authoritarian, which earned him the nickname
"Bulldozer", Lustiger deposed the general vicars Michel Guittet and Pierre Gervaise, had Georges Gilson
transferred to Le Mans
and Emile Marcus to Nantes
, personally headed the meetings of the episcopal council and made numerous other changes. He dismantled P. Béguerie's team in Saint-Séverin
. In October 1981, the French bishops elected the more liberal Jean Vilnet as President of the Episcopal Conference
, with whom Lustiger was on difficult terms throughout his life. In 1982, he invited for the celebration of Lent
in Notre-Dame Roger Etchegaray (whom he disliked at first) and the Jesuit Roger Heckel. He participated in the annual meeting of the movement Comunione e Liberazione in Rimini
in summer 1982. In January 1983 he invited Cardinal Ratzinger to Notre-Dame, where the latter criticized new catechisms proposed by a large part of the French clergy.
He was created Cardinal-Priest
of Santi Marcellino e Pietro
by Pope John Paul II
in the consistory
of 2 February 1983, at the same time as the Jesuit Henri de Lubac
; one year later, on 26 November, he was named Cardinal-Priest of San Luigi dei Francesi
. Now a Cardinal, Lustiger began to attract international attention. The obscure Prophecy of Malachy
, which spoke of a Jewish Pope, strengthened a rumour about him being papabile
.
Cardinal Lustiger carried out several reforms in the Archdiocese of Paris, concerning the priests' formation, creating in 1984 an independent theological faculty in the École cathédrale de Paris, distinct from the Institut Catholique. He constructed of seven new churches in Paris, and supported the development of charismatic movements such as the Emmanuel Community
(of which he was in charge until June 2006) and the Chemin Neuf Community, which was recognized in 1984 by the Vatican as an International Association of the Faithful
. Some parishes were entrusted to charismatic movements. In Paris, he ordained 200 priests, who represented 15 percent of the French total, drawn from a diocese which had two per cent of the French population. Strongly attached to the ideal of priestly celibacy he prevented, as Ordinary for Orientals, the deployment of married eastern-rite Catholic priests in France. He was favourable to the development of a permanent diaconate filled mainly by married men involved in the workplace.
In 1984, he led a mass rally at Versailles
in opposition to the Savary Law, which reduced state aid to private (and mostly Catholic) education
, outdoing his comrades Jean Vilnet, Paul Guiberteau and Jean Honoré, who were leaders on the issue. Shortly afterwards Alain Savary
had to resign. This opposition cemented Lustiger's relations with the groups supporting private education, from whose midst he was to draw most of his candidates for the priesthood. He nevertheless supported the 1905 Law on the Separation of Church and State, but, when testifying before the Commission Stasi
on secularism, he opposed the 2004 law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
.
Cardinal Lustiger had his right-hand man, André Vingt-Trois
, appointed bishop in 1988. Following Marcel Lefebvre
's schism in June 1988, Lustiger tried to reduce tensions with the Traditionalist Catholic
s, celebrating a Tridentine Mass
, sending a conservative priest Patrick Le Gal as his emissary to Lefebvre Along with Cardinal Albert Decourtray
, he strongly criticised Martin Scorsese
's The Last Temptation of Christ
in 1988, clashing with the liberal bishop, Jacques Gaillot
.
Beside his clerical contacts, Cardinal Lustiger maintained contacts with the political world, maintaining rather good working relations with François Mitterrand
's Socialist government, despite their political disagreements. Thus, during the celebrations of the second centenary of the French Revolution
in 1989, he opposed Minister of Culture Jack Lang
about the Pantheonization of the Abbé Grégoire, one of the first priests to take the oath on the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
. For this, he was criticized by the liberal Catholic review Golias. He deposed the priest Alain Maillard de La Morandais from his diplomatic functions towards the political sphere, as he considered him to be too pro-Balladur
during the 1995 presidential campaign
Despite his opposition to Mitterrand's governments, he presided as Archbishop of Paris over Mitterrand's funeral.
Lustiger's search for dialogue with politicians led to the establishment in 1992 of the Centre Pastoral d'Etudes politiques at St. Clotilde church in the 7th arrondissement, close to the hub of the French establishment. He sought to identify and conciliate rising national élites in politics and communication. He was less amenable to initiatives from non-French Catholic groups or individuals (their position was inconclusively debated at the Diocesan Synod).
Relations with the cultural sphere were promoted by a series of Lenten Sermons at Notre-Dame (into which dialogue with prominent French intellectuals and state-employed academics were introduced) and by plans for the opening of the Centre St. Bernard in the 5th arrondissement.
Cardinal Lustiger was never elected as head of the Conférence des évêques de France
(French Episcopal Conference) by his peers, with whom he was not popular, but he was elected a member of the Académie Française
in 1995, succeeding Albert Decourtray
and bypassing Paul Cardinal Poupard
Two years later, he organized a World Youth Day
in Paris, attended by more than a million people
and morals
: "There are opinions and there is faith," he said in 1997. "When it is faith, I agree with the Pope because I am responsible for the faith." Cardinal Lustiger was a strong believer in priestly celibacy
and opposed abortion
and the ordination of women
. Although he fully endorsed John Paul II's views on bioethics
, he considered condom
use if one of the partners had HIV
. He founded the Non-Governmental Organization Tibériade to attend to AIDS
patients.
He considered Christianity to be the accomplishment of Judaism, and the New Testament
to be the logical continuation of the Old Testament
. In Le Choix de Dieu (The Choice of God, 1987), he declared that modern anti-Semitism was the product of the Enlightenment
, whose philosophy he attacked.
He read the Thomistic
philosophers Étienne Gilson
and Jacques Maritain
— one of the main Catholic thinker of his youth — as well as Jean Guitton
, but also the Protestant philosopher Paul Ricœur, and Maurice Clavel
, and the existentialist
philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre
. Close to Augustinism, he preferred the post-conciliar
theologian Louis Bouyer
to the (pre-conciliar) neo-Thomist Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
. His main influence was Henri de Lubac
, as well as the Jesuits Albert and Paul Chapelle. Lustiger, unlike other leading twentieth-century French bishops, did not draw noticeably on patristic writings and was more sensitive to rabbinic texts.
When appointed to Paris he encouraged some liberal clergy to return to the lay state. He was influential in the appointment of his moderate conciliar auxiliary Georges Gilson
to the See
of Le Mans
, replacing senior clergy with men who shared similar views to his own.
He pursued ecumenism
but also gave a critical address of Anglicanism
when welcoming Archbishop Robert Runcie
to Notre Dame. In 1995, Lustiger played a key role in deposing the liberal bishop of Évreux, Jacques Gaillot
, who was then transferred to the titular see of Partenia.
Lustiger was an outspoken opponent of racism
and anti-Semitism. He was strongly critical of Jean-Marie Le Pen
, leader of the French National Front, comparing Le Pen's xenophobic
views to Nazism
. "We have known for 50 years that the theory of racial inequality
can be deadly...It entails outrages", Lustiger said. "The Christian faith says that all men are equal in dignity because they are all created in the image of God
". He supported the action of the parish priest of St. Bernard-de-la-Chapelle in accepting the protracted sit-in of a group of illegal aliens
in 1996, but subsequently showed less sympathy to such activities. The police were called to a similar sit-in at St. Merry.
He incurred the hostility of some in the Spanish Church because he strongly opposed the project to canonise Queen Isabella I of Castile
. In 1974, Pope Paul VI had opened her cause for beatification, which placed her on the path toward possible sainthood. Lustiger's opposition was due to the fact that Isabella and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon had expelled Jews from her domains in 1492.
Lustiger was a favorite of Pope John Paul II. He had a Polish background and staunchly upheld the Pope's conservative views in the face of much hostility from liberal Catholic opinion in France. This led to some speculation that Lustiger would be a candidate to succeed John Paul II, but he always refused to discuss any such possibility. He was one of the cardinal electors
who participated in the 2005 papal conclave
that elected Pope Benedict XVI
.
of Jerusalem, Lustiger was one of only three prelates of his time who were converts to the Roman Catholic faith and he and Gourion were the only two who were born Jewish and still considered themselves 'Jewish' all their lives., He said he was proud of his Jewish origins and described himself as a "fulfilled Jew," for which he was chastised by Christians and Jews alike. Former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Israel Lau of Israel publicly denounced Lustiger. Lau accused Lustiger of betraying the Jewish people by converting to Catholicism. Lustiger, who claimed that he was still a Jew, considered being "Jewish" as an ethnic designation and not exclusively a religious one. Lustiger's strong support for the State of Israel, which conflicts with the Vatican's officially neutral position, also won him Jewish support.
On becoming Archbishop of Paris, Lustiger said:
The former chief rabbi of France, Rabbi René Samuel Sirat, says he personally witnessed Lustiger entering the synagogue to recite kaddish
— the Jewish mourners' prayer — for his mother.
Cardinal Lustiger gained recognition after negotiating in 1987 with representatives of the organized Jewish community, (including Théo Klein, the former president of the CRIF
)., the departure of the Carmelite nuns who built a convent in Auschwitz concentration camp
(See Auschwitz cross
). He represented Pope John Paul II in January 2005 during the 60th-year commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz camp by the Allies. He was also in Birkenau along with the new Pope Benedict XVI
in May 2006.
In 1995, Cardinal Lustiger attended the reading of an act of repentance with a group of French rabbis, during which Catholic authorities apologized for the French Church's passive attitude towards the Collaborationism
policies enacted by the Vichy regime during World War II.
In 1998, Lustiger was awarded the Nostra Aetate Award for advancing Catholic-Jewish relations by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding, an interfaith
group housed on the campus of Sacred Heart University
, a Catholic university at Fairfield, Connecticut
in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League
, a Jewish civil rights group, protested the award, saying it was "inappropriate" to honour Lustiger, who was born a Jew but left the faith. "It's fine to have him speak at a conference or colloquium," said the league's national director Abraham Foxman. "But I don't think he should be honored because he converted out, which makes him a poor example." In France, however, Lustiger enjoyed good relations with the Jewish community. Théo Klein observed that although conversions
usually carry out negative connotations in the Jewish world, it was not so with the Cardinal. Klein called Lustiger "his cousin ."
In 2006, Lustiger visited Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Rabbinical School and addressed the students and faculty along with fellow visiting European bishops.
The World Jewish Congress
paid homage to him after his death.
, a former auxiliary bishop of Paris who had become Archbishop of Tours, succeeded him as Archbishop of Paris.
Lustiger made his final public appearance in January 2007. He died on 5 August 2007 at a clinic outside Paris where he had been battling bone and lung cancer since April. Le Figaro
, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
, announced Lustiger's death.
The funeral, presided over by Cardinal Lustiger's successor, was held at Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 August 2007. Sarkozy, on vacation in the United States, returned to attend Lustiger's funeral. In homage to Lustiger's Jewish heritage, the Kaddish
prayer was recited by his cousin Arno Lustiger in front of the portal of the cathedral.
His epitaph
, which he wrote himself in 2004, reads:
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He was Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
from 1981 until his resignation in 2005. He was made a cardinal in 1983. A French website is entirely dedicated to his life and work.
Early years
Lustiger was born Aaron Lustiger in Paris, to nonobservant Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
from Będzin
Bedzin
Będzin is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza river , the city borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metro area with a population of about 2 million.It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its...
, Charles and Gisèle Lustiger, who left Poland around World War I. Lustiger's father ran a hosiery shop. Aaron Lustiger studied at the Lycée Montaigne
Lycée Montaigne
The Lycée Montaigne is a famous French public secondary school. It is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, near the Jardin du Luxembourg, and was founded in the 1880s....
in Paris, where he first encountered anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. Visiting Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1937, he was hosted by an anti-Nazi
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
Protestant family whose children had been required to join the Hitler Youth.
Sometime between the ages of ten and twelve, Lustiger came across a Protestant Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and felt inexplicably attracted to it. On the outbreak of war in September 1939 the family located to Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
.
In March 1940, during Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
, the 13-year old Lustiger decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. On 21 August he was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
as Aaron Jean-Marie by the Bishop of Orléans
Bishopric of Orléans
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orléans , is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese currently corresponds to the Départment of Loiret. The current bishop is Jacques André Blaquart, appointed in 2010.The diocese has experienced a number of transfers among...
, Jules Marie Courcoux.
His sister converted later. In October 1940, the Vichy regime passed the first Statute on Jews
Statute on Jews
The Statute on Jews was discriminatory legislation against French Jews passed on October 3, 1940 by the Vichy Regime, grouping them as a lower class and depriving them of citizenship before rounding them up at Drancy internment camp then taking them to be exterminated in concentration camps...
, which forced Jews to wear a yellow badge
Yellow badge
The yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
. Although Jean-Marie Lustiger lived hidden in Orléans, his parents had to wear the badge
Lustiger, his father and sister sought refuge in unoccupied southern France, while his mother returned to Paris to run the family business. In September 1942, his mother was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where she died the following year. The surviving family returned to Paris after the war. Lustiger's father tried unsuccessfully to have his son's baptism annulled, and even sought the help of the chief rabbi of Paris.
Early career
Lustiger graduated from the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
with a literature degree in 1946. He then entered the seminary of the Carmelite fathers in Paris, and later the Institut Catholique de Paris
Institut Catholique de Paris
The Institut Catholique de Paris, or the Catholic University of Paris, is a private university located in Paris, France. The institute was founded in 1875, under the name Université Catholique de Paris, by Maurice Le Sage d'Hauteroche d'Hulst....
. After his first visit to Israel in 1951, he was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
to the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
on 17 April 1954 by Bishop Émile-Arsène Blanchet, rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the Institut Catholique de Paris. From 1954 to 1959, he was a chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
at the Sorbonne, and for the next ten years, the director of Richelieu Centre, which trains university chaplains and counsels lay teachers and students from grandes écoles
Grandes écoles
The grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...
such as the ÉNS-Fontenay-Saint-Cloud
École normale supérieure lettres et sciences humaines
The École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, or ENS LSH, was an elite French grande école specialising in the arts, humanities and social sciences...
or the Ecole des Chartes. From 1969 to 1979, he was vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal, in the wealthy XVIe arrondissement
XVIe arrondissement
The 16th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France...
of Paris, with his parochial vicar André Vingt-Trois
André Vingt-Trois
André Armand Vingt-Trois is a French cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Paris, having previously served as Archbishop of Tours from 1999 to 2005. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007....
, who would later become his successor as Archbishop of Paris.
On 10 November 1979, Lustiger was appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishop of Orléans after a 15-month vacancy. John Paul II had been advised by Cardinal Paolo Bertoli
Paolo Bertoli
Paolo Bertoli S.T.D. JUD was a Roman Catholic Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints....
, who was displeased with a new illustrated Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
for French urban youth (Pierres vivantes) and was on bad terms with most of the French clergy.
Lustiger received episcopal consecration
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
on the 8 December 1979 from Cardinal François Marty
François Marty
Gabriel Auguste François Marty was a Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Paris.He was born in Vaureilles, Pachins, in France. His family were farmers. His first baptismal name was Gabriel; but he used his second one, François, to avoid confusion with a classmate who was also named Gabriel...
, with Archbishop Eugène Ernoult of Sens
Sens
Sens is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.Sens is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is crossed by the Yonne and the Vanne, which empties into the Yonne here.-History:...
and Bishop Daniel Pézeril serving as co-consecrators. When installed as bishop, Lustiger avoided all reference to his liberal predecessor Guy-Marie Riobé
Guy Riobé
Guy-Marie Riobé was a mid-twentieth century bishop of Orléans, France, in office 1963 to 1978. He held liberal, progressive views influenced by the climate of the Second Vatican Council....
, a pacifist close to Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
.
Archbishop of Paris (1981-2005)
He was promoted on 31 January 1981, to Archbishop of ParisArchbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
, succeeding Cardinal Marty. According to Georges Suffert, he was supported by a letter to John Paul II written by André Frossard
André Frossard
-Biography:Frossard was born in Saint-Maurice-Colombier, Doubs to Louis-Oscar Frossard, one of the historic founders of the Parti communiste français, who was leader of the party for 31 years. His parents raised him an atheist, but when he was 20 years old he converted to Roman Catholicism. He was...
. The founder of the Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
group Society of St. Pius X
Society of St. Pius X
The Society of Saint Pius X is an international Traditionalist Catholic organisation, founded in 1970 by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre...
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
criticized his nomination, complaining that the function was given to "someone who is not truly of French origin." On the other hand, Lustiger's nomination was soon seen as a defeat by liberal French clergy.
A first-rate communicator and a personal friend of Jean Gélamur, head of the Catholic media group Bayard Presse
Bayard Presse
Bayard Presse was founded in Paris in 1870 and has since expanded into a global publishing network. Considered the e-map of France, their core publications market comes from the children's sector, and they have many magazine titles, books and the like are a core part of children's growing up...
, Lustiger was particularly attentive to the media and developed Catholic radio and television channels (Radio Notre-Dame) after François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
's liberalization of French media in 1981. He founded KTO
KTO
KTO can refer to:* Korean Theater of Operations* Korea Tourism Organization KTO , a French-language television channel of the Archdiocese of Paris* Kuwait Theater of Operations...
TV in 1999, which became a financial disaster. Lustiger also founded a new seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
for training priests, by-passing the existing arrangements.
Considered quite authoritarian, which earned him the nickname
"Bulldozer", Lustiger deposed the general vicars Michel Guittet and Pierre Gervaise, had Georges Gilson
Georges Gilson
Georges Robert Edmond Gilson is a French Catholic bishop.He served initially as auxiliary to Cardinal Marty of Paris. On the appointment of Cardinal Lustiger, he was rapidly appointed to the see of Le Mans...
transferred to Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
and Emile Marcus to Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, personally headed the meetings of the episcopal council and made numerous other changes. He dismantled P. Béguerie's team in Saint-Séverin
Saint-Séverin
Saint-Séverin is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.-Geography:The Lizonne forms the commune's eastern border, then flows into the Dronne, which forms the commune's southern border.-Population:-References:*...
. In October 1981, the French bishops elected the more liberal Jean Vilnet as President of the Episcopal Conference
Conférence des évêques de France
The Bishops' Conference of France is the national episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops of France.-Presidents:* 1945 - 1948: Emmanuel Suhard, archbishop of Paris, cardinal* 1948 - 1964: Achille Liénart, bishop of Lille, cardinal...
, with whom Lustiger was on difficult terms throughout his life. In 1982, he invited for the celebration of Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
in Notre-Dame Roger Etchegaray (whom he disliked at first) and the Jesuit Roger Heckel. He participated in the annual meeting of the movement Comunione e Liberazione in Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
in summer 1982. In January 1983 he invited Cardinal Ratzinger to Notre-Dame, where the latter criticized new catechisms proposed by a large part of the French clergy.
He was created Cardinal-Priest
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of Santi Marcellino e Pietro
Santi Marcellino e Pietro
Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano is a Roman catholic parish and titular church in Rome on the Via Merulana. It is dedicated to Saints Marcellinus and Peter, 4th century Roman martyrs, whose relics were brought here in 1256.-History:...
by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in the consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of 2 February 1983, at the same time as the Jesuit Henri de Lubac
Henri de Lubac
Henri-Marie de Lubac, SJ was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century...
; one year later, on 26 November, he was named Cardinal-Priest of San Luigi dei Francesi
San Luigi dei Francesi
The Church of St. Louis of the French is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St. Denis the Areopagite and St. Louis IX, king of France...
. Now a Cardinal, Lustiger began to attract international attention. The obscure Prophecy of Malachy
Prophecy of the Popes
The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, is a list of 112 short phrases in Latin. They purport to describe each of the Roman Catholic popes , beginning with Pope Celestine II and concluding with the successor of current pope Benedict XVI, a pope described in the prophecy as "Peter...
, which spoke of a Jewish Pope, strengthened a rumour about him being papabile
Papabile
Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a cardinal of whom it is thought likely or possible that he will be elected pope. A literal English translation would be "popeable" or "one who might become pope".In...
.
Cardinal Lustiger carried out several reforms in the Archdiocese of Paris, concerning the priests' formation, creating in 1984 an independent theological faculty in the École cathédrale de Paris, distinct from the Institut Catholique. He constructed of seven new churches in Paris, and supported the development of charismatic movements such as the Emmanuel Community
Emmanuel Community
The Emmanuel Community is a Catholic association of the faithful, of Pontifical right, founded in 1976 by Pierre Goursat and Martine Lafitte-Catta, starting from a prayer group, belonging to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.-Aims:...
(of which he was in charge until June 2006) and the Chemin Neuf Community, which was recognized in 1984 by the Vatican as an International Association of the Faithful
Directory of International Associations of the Faithful
The Directory of International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, lists the international associations of the faithful in the Catholic Church that have been granted official recognition...
. Some parishes were entrusted to charismatic movements. In Paris, he ordained 200 priests, who represented 15 percent of the French total, drawn from a diocese which had two per cent of the French population. Strongly attached to the ideal of priestly celibacy he prevented, as Ordinary for Orientals, the deployment of married eastern-rite Catholic priests in France. He was favourable to the development of a permanent diaconate filled mainly by married men involved in the workplace.
In 1984, he led a mass rally at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
in opposition to the Savary Law, which reduced state aid to private (and mostly Catholic) education
Education in France
The French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three different stages:* the primary education ;* secondary education ;...
, outdoing his comrades Jean Vilnet, Paul Guiberteau and Jean Honoré, who were leaders on the issue. Shortly afterwards Alain Savary
Alain Savary
Alain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and a government minister in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National...
had to resign. This opposition cemented Lustiger's relations with the groups supporting private education, from whose midst he was to draw most of his candidates for the priesthood. He nevertheless supported the 1905 Law on the Separation of Church and State, but, when testifying before the Commission Stasi
Commission Stasi
The French commission Stasi is a commission set up to reflect upon the application of the laïcité principle. Named after the chair Bernard Stasi, ombudsman of the Republic since 1998, and consisting of 20 members , it was set up by the president of the Republic Jacques Chirac on 3 July 2003...
on secularism, he opposed the 2004 law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
The French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools bans wearing conspicuous religious symbols in French public primary and secondary schools...
.
Cardinal Lustiger had his right-hand man, André Vingt-Trois
André Vingt-Trois
André Armand Vingt-Trois is a French cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Paris, having previously served as Archbishop of Tours from 1999 to 2005. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007....
, appointed bishop in 1988. Following Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
's schism in June 1988, Lustiger tried to reduce tensions with the Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
s, celebrating a Tridentine Mass
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
, sending a conservative priest Patrick Le Gal as his emissary to Lefebvre Along with Cardinal Albert Decourtray
Albert Decourtray
Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray S.T.D. was a French Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon.-Early life:...
, he strongly criticised Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ (film)
The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as...
in 1988, clashing with the liberal bishop, Jacques Gaillot
Jacques Gaillot
The Most Reverend Dr. Jacques Jean Edmond Georges Monseigneur Gaillot , Titular Bishop of Partenia, is a French Catholic clergyman and social activist. He was from 1982 to 1995 Bishop of Évreux in France...
.
Beside his clerical contacts, Cardinal Lustiger maintained contacts with the political world, maintaining rather good working relations with François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
's Socialist government, despite their political disagreements. Thus, during the celebrations of the second centenary of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1989, he opposed Minister of Culture Jack Lang
Jack Lang (French politician)
Jack Mathieu Émile Lang is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, he served as France's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1986 and 1988 to 1992, and as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002. He was also the Mayor of Blois from 1989 to 2000...
about the Pantheonization of the Abbé Grégoire, one of the first priests to take the oath on the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government....
. For this, he was criticized by the liberal Catholic review Golias. He deposed the priest Alain Maillard de La Morandais from his diplomatic functions towards the political sphere, as he considered him to be too pro-Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
during the 1995 presidential campaign
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
Despite his opposition to Mitterrand's governments, he presided as Archbishop of Paris over Mitterrand's funeral.
Lustiger's search for dialogue with politicians led to the establishment in 1992 of the Centre Pastoral d'Etudes politiques at St. Clotilde church in the 7th arrondissement, close to the hub of the French establishment. He sought to identify and conciliate rising national élites in politics and communication. He was less amenable to initiatives from non-French Catholic groups or individuals (their position was inconclusively debated at the Diocesan Synod).
Relations with the cultural sphere were promoted by a series of Lenten Sermons at Notre-Dame (into which dialogue with prominent French intellectuals and state-employed academics were introduced) and by plans for the opening of the Centre St. Bernard in the 5th arrondissement.
Cardinal Lustiger was never elected as head of the Conférence des évêques de France
Conférence des évêques de France
The Bishops' Conference of France is the national episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops of France.-Presidents:* 1945 - 1948: Emmanuel Suhard, archbishop of Paris, cardinal* 1948 - 1964: Achille Liénart, bishop of Lille, cardinal...
(French Episcopal Conference) by his peers, with whom he was not popular, but he was elected a member of the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1995, succeeding Albert Decourtray
Albert Decourtray
Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray S.T.D. was a French Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon.-Early life:...
and bypassing Paul Cardinal Poupard
Paul Cardinal Poupard
Paul Joseph Jean Poupard is a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who has been President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and also of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue...
Two years later, he organized a World Youth Day
World Youth Day
World Youth Day is a youth-oriented Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, the invitation to attend extends to all youth, regardless of religious convictions....
in Paris, attended by more than a million people
Theology and ethics
Lustiger upheld papal authority in theologyTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and morals
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
: "There are opinions and there is faith," he said in 1997. "When it is faith, I agree with the Pope because I am responsible for the faith." Cardinal Lustiger was a strong believer in priestly celibacy
Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church)
Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which, in some Churches, only unmarried men are, as a rule, to be ordained to the priesthood. The same discipline holds in some other Churches for ordination to the episcopate....
and opposed abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and the ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
. Although he fully endorsed John Paul II's views on bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
, he considered condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
use if one of the partners had HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. He founded the Non-Governmental Organization Tibériade to attend to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
patients.
He considered Christianity to be the accomplishment of Judaism, and the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
to be the logical continuation of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. In Le Choix de Dieu (The Choice of God, 1987), he declared that modern anti-Semitism was the product of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, whose philosophy he attacked.
He read the Thomistic
Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
philosophers Étienne Gilson
Étienne Gilson
Étienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
and Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
— one of the main Catholic thinker of his youth — as well as Jean Guitton
Jean Guitton
Jean Guitton was a French Catholic philosopher and theologian.-Biography:Born in Saint-Étienne, Loire, he studied at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon and was accepted at the École normale supérieure in Paris. His principal religious and intellectual influence was from a blind priest, Francois Pouget...
, but also the Protestant philosopher Paul Ricœur, and Maurice Clavel
Maurice Clavel
Maurice Clavel is a French writer, journalist and philosopher born on November 10, 1920 in Frontignan and who died on April 23, 1979 in Asquins .-Youth:...
, and the existentialist
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
. Close to Augustinism, he preferred the post-conciliar
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
theologian Louis Bouyer
Louis Bouyer
Louis Bouyer was a French Lutheran minister who converted to Catholicism in 1939. During his religious career he was a scholar who was relied upon during the Second Vatican Council....
to the (pre-conciliar) neo-Thomist Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. was a Catholic theologian and, among Thomists of the scholastic tradition, is generally thought to be the greatest Catholic Thomist of the 20th century. Outside the ranks of Thomists of that sort, his reputation is somewhat more mixed. He taught at the...
. His main influence was Henri de Lubac
Henri de Lubac
Henri-Marie de Lubac, SJ was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century...
, as well as the Jesuits Albert and Paul Chapelle. Lustiger, unlike other leading twentieth-century French bishops, did not draw noticeably on patristic writings and was more sensitive to rabbinic texts.
When appointed to Paris he encouraged some liberal clergy to return to the lay state. He was influential in the appointment of his moderate conciliar auxiliary Georges Gilson
Georges Gilson
Georges Robert Edmond Gilson is a French Catholic bishop.He served initially as auxiliary to Cardinal Marty of Paris. On the appointment of Cardinal Lustiger, he was rapidly appointed to the see of Le Mans...
to the See
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
, replacing senior clergy with men who shared similar views to his own.
He pursued ecumenism
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
but also gave a critical address of Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
when welcoming Archbishop Robert Runcie
Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, PC, MC was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991.-Early life:...
to Notre Dame. In 1995, Lustiger played a key role in deposing the liberal bishop of Évreux, Jacques Gaillot
Jacques Gaillot
The Most Reverend Dr. Jacques Jean Edmond Georges Monseigneur Gaillot , Titular Bishop of Partenia, is a French Catholic clergyman and social activist. He was from 1982 to 1995 Bishop of Évreux in France...
, who was then transferred to the titular see of Partenia.
Lustiger was an outspoken opponent of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and anti-Semitism. He was strongly critical of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, leader of the French National Front, comparing Le Pen's xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
views to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. "We have known for 50 years that the theory of racial inequality
Scientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
can be deadly...It entails outrages", Lustiger said. "The Christian faith says that all men are equal in dignity because they are all created in the image of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
". He supported the action of the parish priest of St. Bernard-de-la-Chapelle in accepting the protracted sit-in of a group of illegal aliens
Illegal Aliens
Illegal Aliens is a 2007 film starring Anna Nicole Smith and Joanie Laurer. This comedy/science-fiction film is made in the mold of classic 1980s B-movies. Hitting stores on May 1, 2007, the release of the movie was pushed back following the death of Smith in February 2007 and it is her final film...
in 1996, but subsequently showed less sympathy to such activities. The police were called to a similar sit-in at St. Merry.
He incurred the hostility of some in the Spanish Church because he strongly opposed the project to canonise Queen Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
. In 1974, Pope Paul VI had opened her cause for beatification, which placed her on the path toward possible sainthood. Lustiger's opposition was due to the fact that Isabella and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon had expelled Jews from her domains in 1492.
Lustiger was a favorite of Pope John Paul II. He had a Polish background and staunchly upheld the Pope's conservative views in the face of much hostility from liberal Catholic opinion in France. This led to some speculation that Lustiger would be a candidate to succeed John Paul II, but he always refused to discuss any such possibility. He was one of the cardinal electors
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 2005
The following is a list of the 115 cardinal electors in the 2005 papal conclave, arranged by region and, within each region, alphabetically. Two cardinals who were eligible to participate in the conclave, namely Adolfo Suarez Rivera and Jaime Sin, did not attend due to ill health.-Roman...
who participated in the 2005 papal conclave
Papal conclave, 2005
The Papal conclave of 2005 was convened as a result of the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect John Paul's successor. The conclave began on 18 April 2005 and ended on the following...
that elected Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
.
Relations with the Jewish world
Along with Cardinal Francis Arinze and Bishop Jean-Baptiste GourionJean-Baptiste Gourion
Jean-Baptiste Gourion, O.S.B. was a French Jewish-born Benedictine monk and auxiliary bishop from 2003 until his death.Gourion was born on October 24, 1934 in Oran, Algeria, when it was a French colony. When studying medicine in France, he decided to enter in French Army during the Algerian...
of Jerusalem, Lustiger was one of only three prelates of his time who were converts to the Roman Catholic faith and he and Gourion were the only two who were born Jewish and still considered themselves 'Jewish' all their lives., He said he was proud of his Jewish origins and described himself as a "fulfilled Jew," for which he was chastised by Christians and Jews alike. Former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Israel Lau of Israel publicly denounced Lustiger. Lau accused Lustiger of betraying the Jewish people by converting to Catholicism. Lustiger, who claimed that he was still a Jew, considered being "Jewish" as an ethnic designation and not exclusively a religious one. Lustiger's strong support for the State of Israel, which conflicts with the Vatican's officially neutral position, also won him Jewish support.
On becoming Archbishop of Paris, Lustiger said:
"I was born Jewish and so I remain, even if that is unacceptable for many. For me, the vocation of Israel is bringing light to the goyim. That is my hope and I believe that Christianity is the means for achieving it."
The former chief rabbi of France, Rabbi René Samuel Sirat, says he personally witnessed Lustiger entering the synagogue to recite kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
— the Jewish mourners' prayer — for his mother.
Cardinal Lustiger gained recognition after negotiating in 1987 with representatives of the organized Jewish community, (including Théo Klein, the former president of the CRIF
CRIF
CRIF may refer to:* Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France* CRIF, the old name of the knowledge centre for the technology industry in Belgium, now called Sirris....
)., the departure of the Carmelite nuns who built a convent in Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
(See Auschwitz cross
Auschwitz cross
The Auschwitz cross is a cross erected near the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1979, the newly elected Polish Pope John Paul II said mass on the grounds of the Auschwitz II extermination camp to some 500,000 people. An 8.6 metre tall cross was erected there for the purpose, and removed after...
). He represented Pope John Paul II in January 2005 during the 60th-year commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz camp by the Allies. He was also in Birkenau along with the new Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
in May 2006.
In 1995, Cardinal Lustiger attended the reading of an act of repentance with a group of French rabbis, during which Catholic authorities apologized for the French Church's passive attitude towards the Collaborationism
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
policies enacted by the Vichy regime during World War II.
In 1998, Lustiger was awarded the Nostra Aetate Award for advancing Catholic-Jewish relations by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding, an interfaith
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of various religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values...
group housed on the campus of Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University is a Roman Catholic university located in suburban Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. Sacred Heart was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart University was the first Catholic university in...
, a Catholic university at Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, a Jewish civil rights group, protested the award, saying it was "inappropriate" to honour Lustiger, who was born a Jew but left the faith. "It's fine to have him speak at a conference or colloquium," said the league's national director Abraham Foxman. "But I don't think he should be honored because he converted out, which makes him a poor example." In France, however, Lustiger enjoyed good relations with the Jewish community. Théo Klein observed that although conversions
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
usually carry out negative connotations in the Jewish world, it was not so with the Cardinal. Klein called Lustiger "his cousin ."
In 2006, Lustiger visited Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School is a "Modern Open Orthodox" yeshiva founded in 1999 by Rabbi Avi Weiss.Currently located in Riverdale, New York, it seeks to "recruit, professionally train, and place rabbis" who will promote its founder's philosophy...
Rabbinical School and addressed the students and faculty along with fellow visiting European bishops.
The World Jewish Congress
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...
paid homage to him after his death.
Retirement and death
When Lustiger reached the age of 75 in 2001, he delivered his resignation as Archbishop of Paris to Pope John Paul II, as required by canon law. The Pope kept it on file for some years. But on 11 February 2005, Lustiger's retirement was accepted and André Vingt-TroisAndré Vingt-Trois
André Armand Vingt-Trois is a French cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Paris, having previously served as Archbishop of Tours from 1999 to 2005. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007....
, a former auxiliary bishop of Paris who had become Archbishop of Tours, succeeded him as Archbishop of Paris.
Lustiger made his final public appearance in January 2007. He died on 5 August 2007 at a clinic outside Paris where he had been battling bone and lung cancer since April. Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, announced Lustiger's death.
The funeral, presided over by Cardinal Lustiger's successor, was held at Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 August 2007. Sarkozy, on vacation in the United States, returned to attend Lustiger's funeral. In homage to Lustiger's Jewish heritage, the Kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
prayer was recited by his cousin Arno Lustiger in front of the portal of the cathedral.
His epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
, which he wrote himself in 2004, reads:
- I was born Jewish.
- I received the name
- Of my paternal grandfather, Aaron
- Having become Christian
- By faith and by Baptism,
- I have remained Jewish
- As did the Apostles.
- I have as my patron saints
- Aaron the High Priest,
- Saint John the Apostle,
- Holy Mary full of grace.
- Named 139th archbishop of Paris
- by His Holiness Pope John Paul II,
- I was enthroned in this Cathedral
- on 27 February 1981,
- And here I exercised my entire ministry.
- Passers-by, pray for me.
- † Aaron Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger
- Archbishop of Paris
Awards
- Grand cordon of the LebaneseLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
Order of the CedarNational Order of the CedarThe National Order of the Cedar is a prestigious civilian and military award and Medal of the Lebanese Government. This Order is the highest decoration in Lebanon and is made up of five Grades :* Grand Cordon... - Bailli Grand-croix d'honneur et de dévotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta
- Grand-Cross of the Order of the Infant Henry the Navigator
Published works
- Sermons d'un curé de Paris (1978)
- Pain de vie et peuple de Dieu (1981)
- Osez croire (1985)
- Osez vivre (1985)
- Premiers pas dans la prière (1986)
- Prenez place au cœur de l'Église (1986)
- Six sermons aux élus de la Nation, 1981-1986 (1987)
- Le Choix de Dieu. Entretiens avec Jean-Louis Missika et Dominique Wolton (1987)
- La Messe (1988)
- Dieu merci, les droits de l'homme (1990)
- Le Sacrement de l'onction des malades (1990)
- Le Saint-Ayoul de Jeanclos (in collaboration with Alain Peyrefitte, 1990)
- Nous avons rendez-vous avec l'Europe (1991)
- Dare to rejoice (American compilation) (1991)
- Petites paroles de nuit de Noël (1992)
- Devenez dignes de la condition humaine (1995)
- Le Baptême de votre enfant (1997)
- Soyez heureux (1997)
- Pour l'Europe, un nouvel art de vivre (1999)
- Les prêtres que Dieu donne (2000)
- Comme Dieu vous aime. Un pèlerinage à Jérusalem, Rome et Lourdes (2001)
- La Promesse (2002)
- Comment Dieu ouvre la porte de la foi (2004)
- Institutlustiger.fr website entirely dedicated to his life and works
External links
- Biographical notice of the Académie françaiseAcadémie françaiseL'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
(includes texts by Lustiger) - Cardinal Lustiger of France dies aged 80, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 6 August 2007 - Obituary, The Independent, 7 August 2007
- Obituary, The Times, 8 August 2007
- Obituary, The Guardian, 2 October 2007
- Intervention "L’Europe en quête de son identité culturelle" December 2005
- Memorial Page at FindaGrave
- www.institutlustiger.fr website entirely dedicated of his life and works.