André Charles Collini (18 November 1921 – 10 November 2003) was a French

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest. He served as Bishop of Ajaccio from 1966 to 1972 and as

Archbishop of Toulouse The Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the Department of Haute-Garonne and its seat is Toulouse Cathedral. Archb ...

from 1978 to 1996.

Early life

Collini was born in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

(then a French protectorate) to a family of European settlers (''

Pieds-Noirs The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

''). His father was a court clerk.Who's Who in France. In 1943, while Collini was a student at the Seminary of Tunisia, he joined the French army. Collini was ordained in 1947 after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

On 7 September 1962 Collini was named honorary bishop of Zephirium and bishop

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of the Bishop of Ajaccio Jean-Baptiste Llosa. Collini was ordained Bishop on 7 October 1962, at the Saint Louis Cathedral in

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, Tunisia. At 41, he was the youngest French bishop at the time. Four days later, he took part in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(1962-1965). He was appointed Bishop of Ajaccio on 26 July 1966. After he was appointed coadjutor of the Archbishop of Toulouse Jean Guyot on 21 December 1972, Collini became Archbishop of Toulouse on 16 November 1978.

Views

Bishop Collini was notable for his involvement in

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. He took progressive positions on the ordination of married men and condom use.

Death

In December 1996, Collini resigned as archbishop and retired to Notre-Dame de la Paix in

Lagardelle-sur-Lèze Lagardelle-sur-Lèze (, literally ''Lagardelle on Lèze''; ) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population The inhabitants of the commune are called ''Lagardellois'' in French. Twinning The village was twin ...

. He died in

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

on 10 November 2003. He was buried in the southern vault of the choir at the Saint-Étienne cathedral of Toulouse.

Honors

* Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. *

Médaille Militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' (, "Military Medal") is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collini, André 1921 births 2003 deaths Archbishops of Toulouse Bishops of Ajaccio 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in France People from Tunis French Army chaplains Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)