Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray S.T.D. (9 April 1923 – 16 September 1994) was a French

Catholic Cardinal A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

and

Archbishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops o ...

Biography

Early life

He was born in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of L'Amiteuse near

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

, France. He entered the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...

of Haubourdin in October 1940, later entering the Grand

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

of Lille in 1941. He was ordained on 29 June 1947 and completed his studies at the

Catholic Faculties of Lille The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1948. He then went to Rome in 1948 where he entered the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

studying for a doctorate in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. Which he was later awarded in 1951 with his thesis on

Nicolas Malebranche Nicolas Malebranche ( , ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the a ...

. While in Rome, he was also chaplain of the church of Saint-Louis des Français.

Career

From 1952 until 1966 he served as Professor of

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

at the Grand Seminary of Lille. He was also responsible for the formation of young priests of the

diocese of Lille The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Insulensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lille'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its cathedral episcopal see is a Marian Minor Ba ...

in 1958. He served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop ...

of the diocese of Lille in 1966. He was appointed

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Ippona Zárito and Auxiliary Bishop of

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

on 27 May 1971. He was named Bishop of Dijon in 1974. He was bishop of Dijon until he was promoted to the metropolitan see of Lyon on 29 October 1981. He was elected vice-president of the Episcopal Conference of France serving from 1981 until 1987 and was then elected its president, serving until 1990. Decourtray was created

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of SS. Trinità al Monte Pincio on 25 May 1985 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He was a member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See from 1986. He was appointed an Officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1986. He resigned the prelature on 1 October 1988. He was elected to a one-year term as president of the Council of the Christian Churches of France on 17 November 1987. He received his first prize of the Droits de l'Homme in 1988. He was elected a member of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

on 1 June 1993.

Personal life

Decourtray had one brother, Eliane, who died at 17, and two sisters, Paule and Blanche, who both died at a young age. He died at the age of 71 in 1994.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Decourtney, Albert 1923 births 1994 deaths People from Nord (French department) 20th-century French cardinals Archbishops of Lyon Bishops of Dijon Members of the Académie Française Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni French expatriates in Italy