Vatican
City, 23 May 2013 (VIS) – Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, native of
Benin and first African-born prelate to be prefect of a Vatican
dicastery (of the Congregation for Bishops), will be memorialised by
the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome with a Chair bearing his
name and dedicated to “Political Socialization in Africa”. The
news was made public this morning in the press office of the Holy
See, at a conference participated in by Cardinal Robert Sarah,
president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”; His excellency
Dr. Thomas Yayi Boni, president of the Republic of Benin; Msgr.
Patrick Valdrini, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University; and
Dr. Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia, director of the Department of Human and
Social Sciences – African Studies at the Pontifical Lateran
University.
Cardinal
Gantin was born in 1922 in Toffo, Benin, and studied at the seminary
of Ouidah. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1951 and left Benin
two years later to pursue studies in Rome. He received a license in
Theology and Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University. In
1956, he was ordained a bishop and in 1960 was named metropolitan
archbishop of Cotonou. As president of the Episcopal Conference of
Benin, he participated in three sessions of Vatican Council II and in
the first World Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1967). In 1971 he
was named adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples and resigned the pastoral care of his
diocese. In 1976, he was named president of the Pontifical Council
for Justice and Peace. He was created a cardinal by Paul VI in 1977.
In 1984, he was named prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Nine
years later, in 1993, he was elected dean of the College of
Cardinals. When he turned 80, no longer a cardinal elector, he
resigned his post as dean and returned to his country. He died in
Paris, where he had travelled for health reasons, in 2008 and was
buried in Ouidah. Benedict XVI, during his trip to Benin in 2011,
visited his tomb.
“Today,
23 May 2013,” Cardinal Sarah said, “the Pontifical Lateran
University dedicates a Chair in his name to recall what his life
meant for the people of Benin, for the Church in Africa, and for the
universal Church … as well as for the contribution that he made,
both on a pastoral level and his invitation to the Christian world to
participate in culture and politics as the main form of service to
the betterment of society and the spiritual well-being of humanity. …
I hope that this Chair in his name—on “Socialization Policy in
Africa”—will initiate reflection on politics in the African
context and prepare future leaders of African society who are guided
by the Church's Social Doctrine.”
For
his part, Dr. Nkafu Nkemnkia explained that the Chair will be
articulated as courses and seminars, will promote conferences and
workshops, and will seek collaboration with institutions and
structures in order to increase and give value to African political
culture. “The contribution of the Chair will be a renewal, but
above all a formation of leaders, motivated by deep-rooted ethical
principles, to overcome the difficult situation of crisis and
corruption, both in politicians as well as in civil society itself,
through a just economic vision and a more balanced form of the
service that politics should offer.”
