Armand Gaétan Razafindratandra (7 August 1925 – 9 January 2010) was a Malagasy prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as Archbishop of Antananarivo from 1994 to 2005.

Life

Born in Ambohimalaza, near

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

, where his grandfather had been governor, Razafindratandra was educated at the parish school of Faravohitra. He went on to study at the minor seminary of Ambohipo and then at St. Michael's College, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

institution, before studying philosophy and theology at Ambatoroka. Razafindratandra was ordained as a priest in 1954, after which he studied at the Catholic Institute in Paris for two years. Returning to Madagascar in 1956, he directed

catechetical Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as t ...

teaching and spiritual programs for public and private schools, working extensively with youth summer camp programs for children from needy families. He also rose to become Rector of the minor seminary at Faliarivo and the Director of the major seminary at Ambatoroka. Appointed Bishop of Mahajanga in 1978 and named Archbishop of the Antananarivo Archdiocese in 1994, Razafindratandra was created a cardinal by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in the consistory of 26 November 1994, and became the cardinal-priest of

San Martino ai Monti San Martino ai Monti, officially known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti ("Saints Sylvester & Martin in the Mountains"), is a minor basilica in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti (rione of Rome), Monti neighbourhood. It is located near the edge o ...

''.'' From 1997 to 2002, he was president of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar. Razafindratandra was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2005 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Josep ...

that selected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. Armand Razafindratandra died on 9 January 2010.Malagasy Catholics receive papal condolences for cardinal's death
Catholic News Agency, 12 January 2010

References

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Biographical data
Catholic Hierarchy {{DEFAULTSORT:Razafindratandra, Armand 1925 births 2010 deaths Malagasy cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Madagascar People from Antananarivo Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Malagasy Roman Catholic archbishops Malagasy Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Antananarivo Roman Catholic bishops of Mahajanga

Life

See also

References

External links