RNS
\nBy Francis X. Rocca
\nCardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jewish convert whose mother
\ndied in the Auschwitz concentration camp before he rose to become the
\nRoman Catholic archbishop of Paris, died Sunday (August 6) at the age of
\n80.
\nThe cause of death was an undisclosed illness for which he had been
\nhospitalized since April. According to the French newspaper Le Figaro,
\nLustiger suffered from cancer.
\nBorn to Polish Jews in Paris in 1926, Lustiger converted to Roman
\nCatholicism in 1940, while living with a Catholic family in the city of
\nOrleans, where his parents had sent him after the German invasion of
\nFrance. His mother died in Auschwitz in 1943.
\nAfter studying literature at the Sorbonne, Lustiger entered the
\nseminary and became a priest in 1954. For 15 years, he was dedicated to
\nthe spiritual needs of university students, first at the Sorbonne and
\nthen as head of a training school for university chaplains.
\nIn 1969, Lustiger became pastor of a church in a wealthy Paris
\nneighborhood, the 16th Arrondissment. Pope John Paul II made him bishop
\nof Orleans in 1979, and promoted him to archbishop of Paris in 1981,
\nwhere he served until 2005. Lustiger was made a cardinal in 1983.
\nAs archbishop, Lustiger was a prominent advocate for
\nChristian-Jewish relations, accompanying John Paul on a visit to
\nJerusalem in 2000, and helping settle a dispute over a convent of
\nCarmelite nuns at Auschwitz. Jewish leaders protested the presence of
\nthe convent there until, at the cardinal’s suggestion, John Paul ordered
\nit moved in 1993.
\nLustiger always said that he considered himself to have remained a
\nJew despite his conversion, though some Jewish leaders pointedly
\ndisagreed.
\nThe cardinal was also active in other areas of interfaith relations,
\nand accompanied John Paul on a 2001 trip to Damascus, Syria, which
\nincluded the first papal visit to a mosque.
\nOften mentioned as a possible successor to John Paul, Lustiger was a
\nluminary of French culture, elected in 1995 to the august Academie
\nFrancaise.
\nIn a telegram of condolence to the current archbishop of Paris, Pope
\nBenedict XVI commemorated a “pastor zealous in the search for God and
\nthe proclamation of the Gospel to the world,” particularly noting
\nLustiger’s work with students and his efforts to “promote ever more
\nfraternal relations between Christians and Jews.”
\nA funeral mass will take place Friday (August 10) at Paris’
\nCathedral of Notre Dame.
\nCopyright 2007 Religion News Service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RNS By Francis X. Rocca Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jewish convert whose mother died in the Auschwitz concentration camp before he rose to become the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris, died Sunday (August 6) at the age of 80. The cause of death was an undisclosed illness for which he had been hospitalized since April.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n