At 11:30 this morning in the John Paul II Hall at the Vatican Press Office, there was a press conference held to present a newly established Chair at the Pontifical Lateran University dedicated to His Eminence, Bernardin Cardinal Gantin, dedicated to Political Socialization in Africa. The Chair will operate under the umbrella of the International Research Area - Interdisciplinary Studies for the Development of African Culture.
Speaking at this morning's Press Conference were His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum; His Excellency, Doctor Thomas Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin; Monsignor Patrick Valdrini, Vice Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University; and Professor Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia, Director of the Department of Human Sciences and African Social Studies at the Pontifical Lateran University.
I have the honour to present to you the personality of my dear friend in the episcopate, His Excellency Cardinal Bernardin Gantin in this prestigious hall of the Holy See.
First of all, his birth:
Bernardin Gantin was born in Toffo, on the 8th of May 1922 in the present Benin (Africa) and left for the house of the Lord in Paris, on the 13th of May 2008.
He was the son of a railway employee and he studied institutional philosophy and theology in the Ouidah Seminary. He was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Lomé to Cotonou, Louis Parisot, on the 14th of January 1951 and he became one of his closest collaborators. Since 1953 he continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Urban University (in missiology) and at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he graduated in theology and canon law.
Concerning his Pastoral Ministry
On the 11th of December 1956 he was elected Titular Bishop of Tipasa of Mauritania and Auxiliary of Cotonou; he was consecrated in the chapel of Propaganda Fide College on the 3rd of February, 1957 by Cardinal Eugène Tisserant and then returned to his diocese of origin; on the 5th of January, 1960, he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Cotonou, when Parisot resigned for health reasons.
He was also elected President of the local Episcopal Conference; he participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council and the First Ordinary Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops (1967). On the 5th of March 1971 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and so he left the government of his diocese.
In 1975 he was appointed Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission Iustitia e Pax, where he became President on the 15th of December 1976, and he became the President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum from the 4th of September 1978. In the consistory of 27 June 1977 he was created cardinal deacon of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King by Pope Paul VI, elected Cardinal priest after the elevation of the diaconate pro illa vice in June 25, 1984 and Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina in September 29, 1986.
In the two conclaves of 1978 his name was mentioned among those of the "eligible candidates".
He left the assignments on 8 April 1984, when he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, the first Cardinal of African origin to be put in charge of a department in the Vatican.
On the 5th of June 1993 he was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals and he also received the title of suburbicarian Church of Ostia. On the 25th of June 1998, having reached the age limit of 75 years, he resigned from the post of Prefect. On the 8th of May 2002 he lost the title of Cardinal elector having exceeded the age of 80, then he chose to resign as dean (30th of November 2002) and return to Benin retaining the title of Dean Emeritus until his death.
On the 13th of May 2008, five days after his eighty-sixth birthday, he died in Paris, where he was hospitalized for some time.
Today, the 23 of May, 2013, the Pontifical Lateran University devotes a Chair in his name as he dedicated his life for his people; the people of Benin, for the Church in Africa and for the Universal Church as a model of Christian fellowship with the successor of St. Peter the Apostle: the Bishop of Rome.
He also expressed his self-contribution both pastoral and as a solicitation to participate in the Christian world to the culture and politics as the main form of service for the betterment of society and the spiritual welfare of man. 10 days after his death, the Holy Father Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass for the repose of the prelate May 23rd, 2008. Among other things the Holy Father said about him:
I conclude by expressing the hope that, this chair in his name Political Socialization in Africa will begin a debate on politics in the African context and to prepare the future leaders of African society of tomorrow oriented by the Social Doctrine of the Church.
In summary
Sequences of responsibilities:
With reference to the articles of the regulations of the International Research Area - Interdisciplinary Studies for the Development of African Culture, the Pontifical Lateran University is creating a Chair dedicated to Cardinal Bernardin Gantin: Socializing Politics in Africa. Its creation is an opportunity to reflect on the challenges, strategies, and future perspectives of politics as service to the community, as service to the people and the nation in the African context.
The value of politics can no longer be identified exclusively with the achievement of consensus; it turns towards an expansion of the boundaries of the peoples’ participation in the management of the institutional life.
It outlines therefore, the necessary boundary of a true democracy of participation. By its varied ethnic composition, Africa is truly the laboratory of renewed political and social democratic forms of participation in the management of political institutions.
The notion of the state itself as a unitary moment of awareness of legal action, portrays a new reality of political involvement that appeals to those intermediate bodies between civil society and the state itself, identifiable, especially in Africa in different types of families, as well as religious and cultural factors.
Democracy in the African context can be, despite the different regional variations, an itinerary, useful for modern society that through scientific and technological innovation, do not want, however, to dampen the fundamental principles that the various constitutions pose to the legal basis of civil society.
Respect and tolerance in intercultural dialogue can be the basics, taught through a further study of the philosophical issues that are at the basis of contemporary political life.
For these reasons, the International Research Area, promotes the creation of a Chair that delves into the philosophical and political principles and to develop at the same time, the social realities of the lived culture of the African continent.
In conclusion, the above Chair is created in memory of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, because of the high contribution that he expressed, not only at the pastoral level, but above all, as a solicitation for the Christian world to participate in a dialogue that starts from the cultural level, involving also the political as the main form of service for the betterment of the spiritual well-being of the society.
FUNCTIONING OF THE CHAIR
The Chair of Cardinal Gantin Socializing Politics in Africa is based at the Pontifical Lateran University in the Faculty of Philosophy. It will be organizing courses and seminars and promoting conferences, congresses and workshops.
The courses will take place over two semesters for 4 hours per week within the academic year. The seminars will take place within each semester on specific topics related to a deepening of the issues addressed by the courses.
The specific topics addressed by the chair, and followed by seminars, will then be disseminated and studied at a more general level, through the promotion of conferences and meetings to be held preferably at the Lateran University structure and in Africa (Benin), in collaboration with Institutions and structures with which functional links and partnerships shall be established for the enhancement and valorization of the African political culture.
As part of the course, both philosophical and historical topics will be addressed, in order to better frame and bring out the contribution that the African continent can offer to the international cultural debate, expressing, in the wake of the Social Doctrine of the Church, its contribution to the renewal of the political institutions in the age of post-globalization.
The contribution of the Chair is useful for the renewal, and above all, for the formation of a ruling class, motivated by deep-rooted ethical principles in order to overcome the difficult situations of crisis and corruption, especially of political personnel of the civil society itself, through a more correct economic view and a balanced form of service that politics has to offer.
Among the main aims of the chair, there is also the production, publication and dissemination of texts and didactic material for training and informing the people which will constitute the subjects of fundamental research.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHAIR
The Chair of Cardinal Gantin Socializing Politics in Africa, will be held by a professor of the same Pontifical Lateran University, who, in addition to teaching the above rules will take care of the organization and conduct of the courses.
The ordinary management of the Chair will be the responsibility of the Pontifical Lateran University in collaboration with Cardinal Gantin Foundation (Benin) and also through donations and acquisitions in order to fulfill the objectives that the institution of the Chair aims, through Civitas Lateranensis in collaboration with the Director of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in the International Research Area.
Speaking at this morning's Press Conference were His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum; His Excellency, Doctor Thomas Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin; Monsignor Patrick Valdrini, Vice Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University; and Professor Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia, Director of the Department of Human Sciences and African Social Studies at the Pontifical Lateran University.
Intervention prepared by His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah
President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum
I have the honour to present to you the personality of my dear friend in the episcopate, His Excellency Cardinal Bernardin Gantin in this prestigious hall of the Holy See.
First of all, his birth:
Bernardin Gantin was born in Toffo, on the 8th of May 1922 in the present Benin (Africa) and left for the house of the Lord in Paris, on the 13th of May 2008.
He was the son of a railway employee and he studied institutional philosophy and theology in the Ouidah Seminary. He was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Lomé to Cotonou, Louis Parisot, on the 14th of January 1951 and he became one of his closest collaborators. Since 1953 he continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Urban University (in missiology) and at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he graduated in theology and canon law.
Concerning his Pastoral Ministry
On the 11th of December 1956 he was elected Titular Bishop of Tipasa of Mauritania and Auxiliary of Cotonou; he was consecrated in the chapel of Propaganda Fide College on the 3rd of February, 1957 by Cardinal Eugène Tisserant and then returned to his diocese of origin; on the 5th of January, 1960, he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Cotonou, when Parisot resigned for health reasons.
He was also elected President of the local Episcopal Conference; he participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council and the First Ordinary Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops (1967). On the 5th of March 1971 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and so he left the government of his diocese.
In 1975 he was appointed Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission Iustitia e Pax, where he became President on the 15th of December 1976, and he became the President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum from the 4th of September 1978. In the consistory of 27 June 1977 he was created cardinal deacon of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King by Pope Paul VI, elected Cardinal priest after the elevation of the diaconate pro illa vice in June 25, 1984 and Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina in September 29, 1986.
In the two conclaves of 1978 his name was mentioned among those of the "eligible candidates".
He left the assignments on 8 April 1984, when he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, the first Cardinal of African origin to be put in charge of a department in the Vatican.
On the 5th of June 1993 he was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals and he also received the title of suburbicarian Church of Ostia. On the 25th of June 1998, having reached the age limit of 75 years, he resigned from the post of Prefect. On the 8th of May 2002 he lost the title of Cardinal elector having exceeded the age of 80, then he chose to resign as dean (30th of November 2002) and return to Benin retaining the title of Dean Emeritus until his death.
On the 13th of May 2008, five days after his eighty-sixth birthday, he died in Paris, where he was hospitalized for some time.
Today, the 23 of May, 2013, the Pontifical Lateran University devotes a Chair in his name as he dedicated his life for his people; the people of Benin, for the Church in Africa and for the Universal Church as a model of Christian fellowship with the successor of St. Peter the Apostle: the Bishop of Rome.
He also expressed his self-contribution both pastoral and as a solicitation to participate in the Christian world to the culture and politics as the main form of service for the betterment of society and the spiritual welfare of man. 10 days after his death, the Holy Father Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass for the repose of the prelate May 23rd, 2008. Among other things the Holy Father said about him:
"… His human and priestly personality was a marvellous synthesis of the characteristics of the African soul with those proper to the Christian spirit, of the African culture and identity and the Gospel values. He was the first African ecclesiastic to have eminently responsible roles in the Roman Curia and he always carried them out with his typical simple and humble style, whose secret is probably to be found in the wise words his mother chose to address to him when he became a Cardinal on 27 June 1977: "Never forget the little faraway village from which we come".
Many personal memories bind me to this Brother of ours, starting precisely from the moment when we received the Cardinal's hat from the hands of the Venerable Servant of God Paul VI, 31 years ago now. We worked together here in the Roman Curia and frequently came into contact, which enabled me to appreciate increasingly his prudent wisdom, as well as his solid faith and sincere attachment to Christ and to the Pope, his Vicar on earth. Fifty-seven years as a priest, 51 as a Bishop and 31 as a Cardinal: this sums up a life spent for the Church".
I conclude by expressing the hope that, this chair in his name Political Socialization in Africa will begin a debate on politics in the African context and to prepare the future leaders of African society of tomorrow oriented by the Social Doctrine of the Church.
In summary
Sequences of responsibilities:
- Titular Bishop of Tipasa of Mauritania: 11 December 1956 - 5 January 1960
- Archbishop of Cotonou: January 5, 1960 - June 28, 1971
- President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: December 15, 1976 - April 8, 1984
- Cardinal Deacon and priest of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King: June 27, 1977 - September 29, 1986
- President of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum": September 4, 1978 - April 8, 1984
- Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops: April 8, 1984 - June 25, 1998
- President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: April 8, 1984 - June 25, 1998
- Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina: September 29, 1986 - May 13, 2008
- Cardinal Bishop of Ostia: 5-June 1993 - November 30, 2002
- Dean of the College of Cardinals: 5 June 1993 - November 30, 2002
- May 23, 2013 is the creation of his Chair "Political Socialization in Africa" by the Pontifical Lateran University - Vatican City.
Intervention prepared by Professor Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia
Director of the Department of Human Sciences and African Social Studies
Pontifical Lateran University
An Overview of the functioning and organization of the
Chair of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin
With reference to the articles of the regulations of the International Research Area - Interdisciplinary Studies for the Development of African Culture, the Pontifical Lateran University is creating a Chair dedicated to Cardinal Bernardin Gantin: Socializing Politics in Africa. Its creation is an opportunity to reflect on the challenges, strategies, and future perspectives of politics as service to the community, as service to the people and the nation in the African context.
The value of politics can no longer be identified exclusively with the achievement of consensus; it turns towards an expansion of the boundaries of the peoples’ participation in the management of the institutional life.
It outlines therefore, the necessary boundary of a true democracy of participation. By its varied ethnic composition, Africa is truly the laboratory of renewed political and social democratic forms of participation in the management of political institutions.
The notion of the state itself as a unitary moment of awareness of legal action, portrays a new reality of political involvement that appeals to those intermediate bodies between civil society and the state itself, identifiable, especially in Africa in different types of families, as well as religious and cultural factors.
Democracy in the African context can be, despite the different regional variations, an itinerary, useful for modern society that through scientific and technological innovation, do not want, however, to dampen the fundamental principles that the various constitutions pose to the legal basis of civil society.
Respect and tolerance in intercultural dialogue can be the basics, taught through a further study of the philosophical issues that are at the basis of contemporary political life.
For these reasons, the International Research Area, promotes the creation of a Chair that delves into the philosophical and political principles and to develop at the same time, the social realities of the lived culture of the African continent.
In conclusion, the above Chair is created in memory of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, because of the high contribution that he expressed, not only at the pastoral level, but above all, as a solicitation for the Christian world to participate in a dialogue that starts from the cultural level, involving also the political as the main form of service for the betterment of the spiritual well-being of the society.
FUNCTIONING OF THE CHAIR
The Chair of Cardinal Gantin Socializing Politics in Africa is based at the Pontifical Lateran University in the Faculty of Philosophy. It will be organizing courses and seminars and promoting conferences, congresses and workshops.
The courses will take place over two semesters for 4 hours per week within the academic year. The seminars will take place within each semester on specific topics related to a deepening of the issues addressed by the courses.
The specific topics addressed by the chair, and followed by seminars, will then be disseminated and studied at a more general level, through the promotion of conferences and meetings to be held preferably at the Lateran University structure and in Africa (Benin), in collaboration with Institutions and structures with which functional links and partnerships shall be established for the enhancement and valorization of the African political culture.
As part of the course, both philosophical and historical topics will be addressed, in order to better frame and bring out the contribution that the African continent can offer to the international cultural debate, expressing, in the wake of the Social Doctrine of the Church, its contribution to the renewal of the political institutions in the age of post-globalization.
The contribution of the Chair is useful for the renewal, and above all, for the formation of a ruling class, motivated by deep-rooted ethical principles in order to overcome the difficult situations of crisis and corruption, especially of political personnel of the civil society itself, through a more correct economic view and a balanced form of service that politics has to offer.
Among the main aims of the chair, there is also the production, publication and dissemination of texts and didactic material for training and informing the people which will constitute the subjects of fundamental research.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHAIR
The Chair of Cardinal Gantin Socializing Politics in Africa, will be held by a professor of the same Pontifical Lateran University, who, in addition to teaching the above rules will take care of the organization and conduct of the courses.
The ordinary management of the Chair will be the responsibility of the Pontifical Lateran University in collaboration with Cardinal Gantin Foundation (Benin) and also through donations and acquisitions in order to fulfill the objectives that the institution of the Chair aims, through Civitas Lateranensis in collaboration with the Director of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in the International Research Area.
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