Bernardin Gantin

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Bernardin Gantin
Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina
Gantin during his early years as a cardinal
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
SeePalestrina
Installed29 September 1986
PredecessorCarlo Confalonieri
SuccessorJosé Saraiva Martins
Orders
Ordination14 January 1951
by Louis Parisot
Consecration3 February 1957
by Eugène Tisserant
Created cardinal27 June 1977
by Pope Paul VI
Personal details
Born(1922-05-08)8 May 1922
Toffo, Benin
Died13 May 2008(2008-05-13) (aged 86)
Paris, France
Previous post
Coat of armsBernardin Gantin's coat of arms
Styles of
Bernardin Gantin
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeePalestrina (suburbicarian)

Bernardin Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals for nine years. He was an auxiliary bishop and then as archbishop of Cotonou. In 1971 he began his thirty-year career in The Vatican.

Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal in 1977, Pope John Paul II promoted him to the rank of cardinal bishop in 1986, and he was elected dean, the highest office in the College of Cardinals, in 1993. He retired to Benin when he turned 80.

Gantin died at a hospital in Paris, France 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.[1][2]

References[change | change source]

  1. Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Africa's leading cardinal, has died; The Times, 14 May 2008
  2. "Benin starts three-day national mourning for late Cardinal Gantin". African Press Agency. 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2021.