Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger; Former Archbishop of Paris
Aug 06, 2007
Retired Roman Catholic Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, 80, the longtime archbishop of Paris whose prominence in France, in his church and in Western culture owed much to his faith, his intellect and his Jewish descent, died Aug. 5.
By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 6, 2007
Retired Roman Catholic Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, 80, the longtime archbishop of Paris whose prominence in France, in his church and in Western culture owed much to his faith, his intellect and his Jewish descent, died Aug. 5.
The French newspaper Le Figaro attributed his death to cancer. It said he had been admitted to a care facility in Paris in April after announcing in October that "a grave malady had been diagnosed."
As the French-born son of an immigrant family, as the child of a mother who died in a concentration camp, as an author and thinker who belonged to the elite Academie Francaise, Cardinal Lustiger embodied, wrote on and spoke on many of the major trends and forces that characterized Europe in his times.
A convert to Catholicism who was uneasy with the celebrity brought to him on the basis of that fact alone, Cardinal Lustiger was the highest-ranking member of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in France. He was seen as a strong supporter of dialogue among religions and sought vigorously to maintain his ties to Judaism.
Named a cardinal in 1983, he held that post until 2005, with his seat in the celebrated Notre Dame Cathedral. He was regarded as a firm adherent of church tradition who was also at ease in dealing with those who held a wide range of other religious positions, or none at all.
He was quoted years ago as calling himself a "modern man" whose views on political and economic questions indicated a preference for an anti-Soviet form of socialism and for realism rather than ideology.
Admirers in the intellectual world saw one of his major roles as that of a clear thinker and forceful advocate who, at a time of challenge to traditional concepts and spiritual values, stood for belief in God.
Originally named Aaron Lustiger, he was born Sept. 17, 1926, in Paris. His parents were Polish immigrants and nonpracticing Jews.
In what was said to be one of the few times he dealt publicly at length with his religious conversion, he told editors of an Israeli newspaper that his parents were upset. He said he told them, "I am not leaving you. I am not passing into the enemy camp. I'm becoming what I am. I am not stopping being a Jew -- just the opposite. I'm discovering a way of living it."
After the Nazis invaded France in 1940, he was sent to live with a Catholic family in Orleans. He was baptized that year, under the name Jean-Marie Lustiger. His father escaped the Nazis by going into hiding. His mother, who tried to maintain the family's textile business, was arrested and deported.
At a French day of remembrance for the deported, he read some of the victims' names. After reading "Gisele Lustiger," according to the Associated Press, he added "ma maman" (my mother).
He was ordained in 1954, served for 15 years as chaplain at the University of Paris, came to the attention of Pope John Paul II and, after a period as a parish priest, was named in 1979 to be bishop of Orleans. In 1981, Cardinal Lustiger was made archbishop of Paris.
Two days after being named, in an interview with a reporter for a Jewish news service, quoted in Current Biography, Cardinal Lustiger said: "I've always considered myself a Jew, even if that's not the opinion of some rabbis."
This did not mean any weakening in his ecclesiastical commitment.
"The West is born of Christianity," he told the New York Times, "and the crisis of the West is that it isn't Christian anymore."
Cardinal Lustiger was elected in 1995 to the Academie Francaise, the group of 40 intellectuals founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu and known as "the immortals."
On May 31, he went to a meeting of the group to say goodbye. He told them: "I am going up there, to meet again with Cardinal Richelieu."
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger; Former Archbishop of Paris