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Styles of Jean Jérôme Hamer
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Lorium (titular see)

Jean Jérôme Hamer,O.P.,S.T.D. (1 June 1916 – 2 December 1996) was aBelgian Cardinal who wasPrefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life from 1985 until 1992.

He was born inBrussels and joined theDominican Order in 1934 taking the name of Jérôme. He received his religious training atLa Sarte, a Dominican Study house nearHuy (Belgium), andLouvain University. He did hismilitary service and, during theSecond World War, spent 3 months of 1940 as a prisoner. He was ordained on 3 August 1941. He continued his studies at theUniversity of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he earned his doctorate intheology. He was on the teaching staff of thePontificium Athenaeum Internationale Angelicum for theacademic year of 1952–53.^[1] He had been a staff member at the University of Fribourg since 1944, where he then returned and taught until 1962.

He was appointed secretary of the party in 1958Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity on 12 April 1969. Then, on 14 June 1973, he was appointedtitular archbishop of Lorium and secretary of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

He wasconsecrated on 29 June 1973 byPope Paul VI. In 1974, the Congregation published a "declaration on procured abortion", re-asserting the Church's opposition to the controversial procedure since the publication ofHumanae Vitae. He later helped in writing the documentPersona humana on the topic ofsexual ethics.

He remained at this position untilPope John Paul II appointed himPro-Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in 1984. At that time the title of Prefect was reserved for someone who was already a Cardinal.

He became Prefect of the Congregation when he was madeCardinal-Deacon ofSan Saba in theconsistory of 25 May 1985, two days after which the full title was formally granted him. He resigned as the head of the Congregation on 21 January 1992. He opted for the order of Cardinal Priests after ten years and his deaconry was elevatedpro hac vice to title on 29 January 1996. He lost the right to participate in aconclave when he turned 80 in 1996. He died on 2 December 1996 in Rome.

• The Church Is A Communion. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964.
• Karl Barth. Westminster, Md.: Newman Press, 1962.
• Karl Barth : l'occasionalisme théologique de Karl Barth : étude sur sa méthode dogmatique. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1949.

• 1916 births
• 1996 deaths
• Burials at Campo Verano
• Jurists from Brussels
• Belgian Dominicans
• Belgian cardinals
• Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni
• University of Fribourg alumni
• Members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
• Members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
• Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
• Academic staff of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
• Dominican cardinals
• Bishops appointed by Pope Paul VI

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