Jules-Géraud Saliège | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Toulouse | |
 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Toulouse |
| Appointed | 6 December 1928 |
| Installed | 14 February 1929 |
| Term ended | 5 November 1956 |
| Predecessor | Jean-Augustin Germain |
| Successor | Gabriel-Marie Garrone |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Pudenziana (1946-56) |
| Previous post | Bishop of Gap (1925-28) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 21 September 1895 by Jean-Marie-François Lamouroux |
| Consecration | 6 January 1926 by Paul-Augustin Le Coeur |
| Created cardinal | 18 February 1946 byPius XII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jules-Géraud Saliège (1870-02-24)24 February 1870 |
| Died | 5 November 1956(1956-11-05) (aged 86) Toulouse, France |
| Motto | Sub umbra illius |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Jules-Géraud Saliège | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Toulouse |
| Righteous Among the Nations |
|---|
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| By country |
Jules-Géraud Saliège (24 February 1870 – 5 November 1956) was a FrenchCardinal of theRoman Catholic Church. He served asArchbishop of Toulouse from 1928 until his death, and was a significant figure inCatholic resistance to Nazism in France. He was elevated to thecardinalate in 1946 byPope Pius XII. For his efforts to protect Jews during theNazi Holocaust he was recognised asRighteous among the Nations byYad Vashem.
Born inMauriac, Cantal, in theDiocese of Saint-Flour, Jules-Géraud Saliège studied at theSeminary ofSaint-Sulpice inParis before beingordained to thepriesthood on 21 September 1895. He then taught at theminor seminary inPleaux until 1903, and at the seminary in Saint-Flour from 1903 to 1907, when he was named itsrector. He was made anhonorarycanon of thecathedral chapter of Saint-Flour on 14 September 1905, before becoming an honoraryvicar general on 31 March 1918. DuringWorld War I, he served as a militarychaplain.
On 29 October 1925, Saliège was appointedBishop of Gap byPope Pius XI. He received hisepiscopal consecration on 26 January 1926, from Bishop Paul-Augustine Lecoeur, with Bishops Benjamin Roland-Gosselin and Hippolyte de La Celle serving asco-consecrators, inSaint-Flour Cathedral. Saliège was later namedArchbishop ofToulouse on 17 December 1928.
During theNazioccupation of France, he was outspoken in attacking the German treatment ofJews andconscription of Frenchmen.[1] For his criticism of the Nazis' and Vichy's anti-Jewish policies, he was praised by the Vatican newspaper.[2]
With the free press silenced inVichy France,Charles Lederman, a Jewish Communist approached Saliège, to alert public opinion to what was being done to the Jews. He told Saliège of the arrests, kidnappings and deportations. Saliège read his famous Pastoral letter the following Sunday.[3] Other bishops -Monseigneur Théas,Bishop of Montauban,Monseigneur Delay,Bishop of Marseilles,Cardinal Gerlier,Archbishop of Lyon,Monseigneur Vansteenberghe of Bayonne andMonseigneur Moussaron,Archbishop of Albi - also denounced the roundups from the pulpit and through parish distributions, in defiance of the Vichy regime.[4] The protest of the bishops is seen by various historians as a turning point in the formerly passive response of the Catholic Church in France.[5]
Saliège wrote to his parishioners: "The Jews are real men and women. Not everything is permitted against these men and women, against these fathers and mothers. They are part of the human species. They are our brothers like so many others. A Christian should not forget this". The words encouraged other clerics like the Capuchin priestPère Marie-Benoît.[6]
Pope Pius XII created himCardinal Priest ofS. Pudenziana in theconsistory of 18 February 1946. In 1950, the Cardinalexcommunicated a priest within hisarchdiocese for rejecting thedogma of theAssumption of Mary.[7] He also encouraged theChristianization of society.[8]
Saliège died in Toulouse, at age 86. He is buried inSaint-Étienne Cathedral, Toulouse.
He was posthumously awarded the titleRighteous among the Nations byYad Vashem.[9]
| Preceded by | Bishop of Gap 1925–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop ofToulouse 1928–1956 | Succeeded by |
