Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger

@Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Timeline and Family

Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger was a French cardinal who had served as the Archbishop of Paris

Sep 17, 1926

FrenchMiscellaneousPriestsVirgo Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: September 17, 1926
  • Died on: August 5, 2007
  • Nationality: French
  • Famous: Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Miscellaneous, Priests
  • Known as: Jean-Marie Lustiger
  • Birth Place: Paris
  • Gender: Male

Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger born at

Paris

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Birth Place

He was a good natured and friendly man who was well loved by everyone. He was an outspoken opponent of racism and was known to be an energetic and enthusiastic person.

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Personal Life

He was diagnosed with bone and lung cancer and died on August 5, 2007. The World Jewish Congress paid homage to him after his death.

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Personal Life

He was born as Aaron Lustiger on September 17, 1926, in Paris. His parents, Charles and Gisele Lustiger were Jews from Poland who had migrated to France around World War I. His father used to run a hosiery shop.

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Childhood & Early Life

He received his primary education from Lycée Montaigne in Paris.

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Childhood & Early Life

Germany occupied France in 1940 and Aaron’s parents sent him along with his sister to live with a Catholic woman in Orleans. Exposed to Christianity, he decided to convert. Even though his parents were not practicing Jews, his father was appalled at his son’s decision.

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Childhood & Early Life

Aaron went ahead with the conversion and was baptized by the Bishop of Orleans, Jules Marie Courcoux in August 1940, adding the name Jean-Marie to Aaron.

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Childhood & Early Life

His mother who had been deported to Auschwitz died in 1942. Aaron along with his father and sister escaped with great difficulty.

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Childhood & Early Life

He became a chaplain at the Sorbonne in 1954 where he served till 1959. After that he was made the director of the Richelieu Center, which trained chaplains for French universities, a post he held for the next ten years.

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Career

In 1969, he became a parish priest of Ste. Jeanne de Chantal, 16th arrondissement of Paris. It was one of the city’s wealthier neighborhoods and the parish was somewhat complacent when Lustiger joined. He was successful in transforming the Parish into a highly active one with his dedication.

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Career

He was appointed the Bishop of Orleans by Pope John Paul II in 1979. This appointment came as a surprise to him as he was not expecting to be handed such a prestigious position in the French Roman Catholic Church given his Jewish heritage.

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Career

In 1981, he was promoted as Archbishop of Paris, succeeding Cardinal Marty. This appointment was criticized by the founder of the Traditionalist Catholic group, Society of St. Pius X, on the grounds that Lustiger was not of truly French origin.

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Career

He participated in the annual meeting of the movement Comunione e Liberazione in Rimini in the summer of 1982 and was made Cardinal-Priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro by Pope John Paul II the next year.

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Career

He was awarded the Nostra Aetate Award for advancing Catholic-Jewish relations by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding in 1998.

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Awards & Achievements

He was awarded the Bailli Grand-croix d'honneur et de dévotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta and the Grand-Cross of the Order of the Infant Henry the Navigator.

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Awards & Achievements