Roger Etchegaray | |
|---|---|
| Vice-Dean of theCollege of Cardinals | |
 Cardinal Roger Etchegaray inSarajevo, 2012 | |
| Appointed | 8 April 1984 |
| Term ended | 24 June 1998 |
| Predecessor | Agostino Casaroli |
| Other post |
|
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 13 July 1947 by Jean Saint-Pierre |
| Consecration | 27 May 1969 by François Marty |
| Created cardinal | 30 June 1979 byPope John Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal-Bishop (previously Cardinal-Priest) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray (1922-09-25)25 September 1922 |
| Died | 4 September 2019(2019-09-04) (aged 96) |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray (French pronunciation:[ʁɔʒeɛtʃɛɡaʁaj]; 25 September 1922 – 4 September 2019) was a Frenchcardinal of theCatholic Church. Etchegaray served as theArchbishop of Marseille from 1970 to 1985 before entering theRoman Curia, where he served as President of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1984–1998) and President of thePontifical CouncilCor Unum (1984–1995). He was elevated to the rank ofcardinal in 1979, and was the longest-serving cardinal never to attend a papalconclave.
He served as papal representative in delicate situations. Some were ecclesiastical, like improving relations with the Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, organizing an historic inter-religious prayer service in Assisi in 1986, and seeking rapprochement with Communist governments. Others were geopolitical, attempting to prevent international violence, arranging an exchange of prisoners, or bearing witness to theRwandan genocide against the Tutsis.
Etchegaray, of Basque ancestry,[1] was born in theNorthern Basque Country to Jean-Baptiste and Aurélie Etchegaray. The eldest of three children, he had two younger siblings, Jean and Maïté; their father worked as an agricultural mechanic.[2] All his life he spoke French with the accent of his native region.[3]
He attended theminor seminary inUstaritz and themajor seminary inBayonne before studying at thePontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he obtained aLicentiate of Sacred Theology and aDoctorate of Canon Law. He wasordained to the priesthood by Bishop Jean Saint-Pierre on 13 July 1947.[2]
Etchegaray then did pastoral work in theDiocese of Bayonne, also serving as secretary to BishopLéon-Albert Terrier, secretary general of the diocesan works ofCatholic Action, and asvicar general. He then served as deputy director (1961–1966) and later secretary general (1966–1970) of theFrench Episcopal Conference.[4]
On 29 March 1969, Etchegaray was appointedAuxiliary Bishop ofParis andTitular Bishop of Gemellae in Numidia byPope Paul VI.[2] He received hisepiscopal consecration on the following 27 May from CardinalFrançois Marty, with CardinalPaul Gouyon and BishopWładysław Rubin serving asco-consecrators, atNotre-Dame de Paris cathedral.[citation needed]
After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on 11 April 1969 at the convent of the Divine Master inAriccia, he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads ofFreemasonry.[5]
| Styles of Roger Etchegaray | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Porto-Santa Rufina (suburbicarian) |
Etchegaray was namedArchbishop of Marseille on 22 December 1970[6] and served until 1984, when he took up assignments in the Roman Curia. He was twice elected president of the Conference of French Bishops, serving from 1975 to 1981.[7] On 8 April 1984,Pope John Paul II named him President of thePontifical CouncilCor Unum and President of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace.[8] He held the first of those positions until 2 December 1995 and the other until 24 June 1998.[citation needed] In Rome he lived in thePalazzo San Callisto, a Vatican property inTrastevere.[3]
He was madeCardinal-Priest ofSan Leone I byPope John Paul II in theconsistory of 30 June 1979. On 24 June 1998 he was appointedCardinal Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina. Etchegaray was electedVice-Dean of theCollege of Cardinals and served from 30 April 2005[9]until 10 June 2017, when he was relieved from the duties of his position at his own request.[10]
Popes Paul VI and John Paul II used Etchegaray as a diplomatic agent even when he was still Archbishop of Marseille and before he had Curial titles associated with human rights. He visited Eastern Europe on their behalf several times in the 1970s.[4] In 1980 he became the first cardinal to visit China[11] and visited again in 1993.[12] He improved the relations with the Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.[7] He was a key organizer among others of the firstWorld Day of Prayer for Peace that brought together more than 160 religious leaders in Assisi on 27 October 1986. It was the broadest representation of international religious leaders ever assembled.[13]
Etchegaray made his first trip toCuba in 1989 and spent nine days there, between Christmas and New Year's Day. His Cuban tour was capped by a meeting withFidel Castro during Christmas week at which Etchegaray underlined the social contribution the Church provided to the Cuban health service, the pride of the Cuban regime.[14]
The meeting underscored an easing of tensions between Church and state in the officially atheist country, where practicing Christians, Jews, and Muslims have been objects of governmentrepression for almost 30 years.[15]
In 2006, the Catholic Church, again through Cardinal Etchegaray, gave theGreek Orthodox Church another relic ofSt. Andrew.[16]
In December 1985, he led a Vatican team invited by AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini to visit prisoners of war held inIran.[17] He visitedBaghdad in 1985 when he helped to arrange an exchange of prisoners of war betweenIran andIraq while they were at war. In 1998, he visited Baghdad to determine if a papal visit was feasible.[7]
He first visitedRwanda in 1993 in an attempt to reconcile the warring parties.[18] In June 1994, amidst the violence of theRwandan genocide, he visited the site where three bishops were assassinated and officiated at their funeral. He crossed the country to deliver the same message to the government and its rebel opposition.[19][20]
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TheVatican opposed the2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and sent Cardinal Etchegaray as an envoy to persuade Iraqi authorities to cooperate with theUnited Nations in order to avoid war.[21][22]
In 2003 he received the journalistic prize Golden Doves for Peace awarded by the Italian Research Institute Archivio Disarmo.[23]
On 24 December 2009, Cardinal Etchegaray was knocked down along withPope Benedict XVI when 25-year-oldSusanna Maiolo jumped over a barrier and grappled with the Pope, who was making his way through St Peter's Basilica in procession for Christmas Eve Mass. The Pope was not injured, but Etchegaray suffered a broken leg and a broken hip.[25][26][27] He had been standing a few yards away from the Pope and was knocked down in the scuffle.[28] The Vatican said Maiolo was "psychologically unstable" and had lunged at the Pope previously.[29]
In 2015, Etchegaray fell in St. Peter's Basilica during Mass and broke his leg for the second time.[30]
Etchegaray returned to Bayonne, France, in January 2017, to live with his sister Maité (d. 13 February 2018) in a retirement home inCambo-les-Bains nearEspelette, the village where he was born.Catholic News Agency journalist Andrea Gagliarducci described Cardinal Etchegary's retirement from Rome as "the end of an era".[31] He had farewell meetings withPope Francis andPope Emeritus Benedict XVI before he left.[31] Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals on 10 June 2017.[32]
Etchegaray died on 4 September 2019, at age 96.[33] At the time of his death he was the oldest living cardinal, following the death of CardinalPimiento Rodriguez one day earlier on 3 September 2019.[34] Etchegaray was the longest-serving cardinal not to participate in apapal conclave.[a]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Marseille 22 December 1970 – 13 April 1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of thePontifical Council Cor Unum 8 April 1984 – 2 December 1995 | Succeeded by |
| President of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace 8 April 1984 – 24 June 1998 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Sub-Dean of theCollege of Cardinals 30 April 2005 – 10 June 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Bishop ofPorto-Santa Rufina 24 June 1998 – 4 September 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by | Oldest living Member of the Sacred College 3–4 September 2019 | Succeeded by |
