Paul Joseph Jean Poupard (born 30 August 1930) is a French 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 has been a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

since 1985. He held positions in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

for more than 25 years, serving as President of the

Pontifical Council for Culture The Pontifical Council for Culture () was a dicastery of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. It was erected by Pope John Paul II on 20 May 1982 and in 1993 he merged the Po ...

from 1988 to 2007 and briefly as President of the

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by ...

Biography

Poupard was born in

Bouzillé Bouzillé () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2015, it was merged into the new commune Orée-d'Anjou.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 Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

Beaupréau Beaupréau () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. On 15 December 2015, Andrezé, Beaupréau, La Chapelle-du-Genêt, Gesté, Jallais, La Jubaudière, Le Pin-en-Mauges, ...

University of Angers The University of Angers () is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur. It is part of the Angers-Le Mans University Community. History The University of Angers was initially established during the 11 ...

, and

École Pratique des Hautes Études École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

of the Sorbonne (from where he obtained his doctorates in theology and history). Poupard was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood by Bishop Stanislas Courbe on 18 December 1954, and then taught at the Mongazon School. After entering the French section of the Secretariat of State in 1959, he was raised to the rank of

Chaplain of His Holiness Chaplain of His Holiness is a title of distinction given by the Pope in recognition of a priest's service to the Church. They are addressed with the honorific of "Monsignor" and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and ve ...

on 20 March 1965, and of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness on 29 November 1971. Poupard was Rector of the

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

from 1972 to 1980, and also served as

vice-president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the Society of French Ecclesiastical History. On 2 February 1979, he was appointed

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Paris and

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 an ...

of Usula. Poupard received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on the following 6 April from Cardinal

François Marty Gabriel Auguste François Marty (; 18 May 1904 – 16 February 1994) was a French Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal and Archbishop of Paris. Early years He was born in Vaureilles, Pachins, in France. His family were ...

, with Archbishop André Pailler and Bishop Jean Orchampt serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

, in the

Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. A year and a half later, in 1980, he received a position in the

, the Holy See's governing body, as Pro-President of the Secretariat for Non-Believers, later (in 1988) renamed the

. In 1985, his title was changed to president, on his becoming

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

of '' S. Eugenio''. After the

sede vacante In the Catholic Church, ''sede vacante'' is the state during which a diocese or archdiocese is without a prelate installed in office, with the prelate's office being the cathedral. The term is used frequently in reference to a papal interre ...

period that followed the death of

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 ...

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 ...

reappointed him to the same position and, on 11 March 2006, also named him President of the

. Some of his writings have been translated into languages including

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese,

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. He holds doctorates in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and history from the Sorbonne, as well as honorary doctorates from the Universities of

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, Fu Jen,

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

Puebla de los Angeles Puebla de Zaragoza (; ; ), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and ...

and the Babes-Bolyai University/Cluj-Napoca. In 1996 he was appointed Cardinal-Priest of

Santa Prassede The Basilica of Saint Praxedes (, ), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titulus (Roman Catholic), titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede, Mont ...

. He 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 elected

. In September 2007 Pope Benedict replaced him as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue with Cardinal

Jean-Louis Tauran Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran (; 5 April 1943 – 5 July 2018) was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. When he died, he had been the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 2007 and Camerlengo of the Holy Ro ...

and as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture with

Gianfranco Ravasi Gianfranco Ravasi (born 18 October 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a biblical scholar. A cardinal since 2010, he was President of the Pontifical Council for Culture from 2007 to 2022. He headed Milan's Ambrosian Library ...

Bibliography

* ''John XXIII. Simple and Humble, A Blessed Man'', 'The Holiness of John XXIII' by His Eminence Paul Cardinal Poupard, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture, p. 25 – p. 57, Gunnar Riebs, ST Pauls, 2011,

References

External links

*
Bio
(Archived: 8 February 2007)

(Dicastery presided over by Cardinal Poupard) {{DEFAULTSORT:Poupard 1930 births Living people People from Maine-et-Loire 20th-century French cardinals University of Paris alumni Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture Auxiliary bishops of Paris 21st-century French cardinals