Pierre-Marie Gerlier

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Pierre-Marie Gerlier
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Lyon |

Pierre-Marie Gerlier (January 14, 1880—January 17, 1965) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1937 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.

Biography

Pierre-Marie Gerlier was born in Versailles, and received his vocation to a career in the Church later in life than most. Indeed, after attending the University of Bordeaux, he studied at the seminary in Issy for late vocations. Gerlier studied at the seminary in Fribourg before serving as an officer of the French Army in World War I, during which he was wounded and captured. Ordained to the priesthood on July 29, 1921, he then did pastoral work in Paris, where he was also the archdiocesan Director of Catholic Works.

On May 14, 1929, Gerlier was appointed Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 2 from Cardinal Louis-Ernest Dubois, with Bishops Benjamin Roland-Gosselin and Maurice Dubourg serving as co-consecrators, in Notre Dame Cathedral. Gerlier was named Archbishop of Lyon on July 30, 1937, and was created Cardinal Priest of "Ss. Trinità al Monte Pincio" by Pope Pius in the consistory of December 13 of that same year. As Lyon's archbishop, he held the honorary title of Primate of Gaul. From 1945 to 1948, he served as Vice-President of the French Episcopal Conference.

During World War II, Gerlier condemned Pierre Laval's deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773649,00.html The Inquisition] September 28, 1942] , the severe conditions of which he also opposed [Leaders of the Church During the Vichy Regime. [http://hist.academic.claremontmckenna.edu/jpetropoulos/church/CardinalPierreMarieGelier.htm Cardinal Pierre Marie Gerlier] ] . Moreover, he asked that religious orders take Jewish children into hiding [Ibid.] . For his efforts to save Jews during World War II he was posthumously awarded the title "Righteous among the Nations" by Yad Vashem in 1981. [cite web|url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_new/PDF%20Virtual_Wall_Of_Honor/FRANCE.pdf|title=Righteous Among the Nations Recognized by Yad Vashem as of 1 January 2008 - France|publisher=Yad Vashem|date=2008-01-01|accessdate=2008-08-27|format=PDF]

He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave (at which he was considered "papabile" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760766-4,00.html Death of a Pope] February 20, 1939] ), which selected Pope Pius XII, and participated again in the 1958 conclave, which resulted in the election of Pope John XXIII. Living long enough to attend only the first three sessions of the Second Vatican Council, Gerlier was also a cardinal elector in the conclave of 1963 that chose Pope Paul VI.

The Cardinal died from a heart attack in Lyon, at age 85 [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839201,00.html Milestones] January 29, 1965] . He is buried in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Trivia

*He championed the Worker-Priest movement [Ibid.] and ecumenism, including endorsing the Taizé Community [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,826571-2,00.html The Brothers of Taize] September 5, 1960] .
*In 1950, Gerlier described the film "Caroline chérie", starring French sex symbol Martine Carol, as "a scandalous display of vice" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935994,00.html The Cardinal & Caroline] June 22, 1953] .
*He received Édouard Herriot's deathbed conversion to Catholicism in 1957 [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825971,00.html At the Bedside] November 30, 1959] .

References

ee also

*David Feuerwerker

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-g.htm#Gerlier Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgerlier.html Catholic-Hierarchy]