Cardinal Who Excommunicated Archbishop Lefebvre Now on Path to 'Beatification'

The Bishops Conference of Lazio in Rome has opened a process for the beatification of the Beninese Cardinal Bernard Gantin. As Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, he signed the excommunication of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre after the ordination of four bishops without papal mandate in 1988.

Bernardin Gantin was born on May 8, 1922, in Toffo, Dahomey (today Benin). He was ordained a priest in 1951 and a bishop in 1957, making him one of the youngest bishops in Africa at the time.

He held several important positions in the Roman Curia, including Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (1984-1998), which gave him immense influence over the many [disastrous] bishops appointments.

He was also President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Dean of the College of Cardinals (1993–2002), the first African to hold that position.

After his retirement in 2002, he returned to Benin, where he lived quietly until his death on May 13, 2008.

The international airport of Cotonou bears his name.

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