Bernardin Gantin

Styles of
**Bernardin Gantin**
Styles of; Bernardin Gantin
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Palestrina (suburbicarian)

His Eminence

Bernardin Gantin
His Eminence; Bernardin Gantin
Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina
	Gantin during his early years as a cardinal
Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Palestrina
Installed	29 September 1986
Predecessor	Carlo Confalonieri
Successor	José Saraiva Martins
Orders
Ordination	14 January 1951; by Louis Parisot
Consecration	3 February 1957; by Eugène Tisserant
Created cardinal	27 June 1977; by Pope Paul VI
Personal details
Born	8 May 1922; Toffo, Benin
Died	13 May 2008 (aged 86); Paris, France
Previous post(s)	Auxiliary Bishop of Cotonou (1957–60); Archbishop of Cotonou (1960–71); President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1976–84); Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (1984–98); Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal Bishop of Ostia (1993–2002);
Coat of arms

Bernardin Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese prelate of the Catholic Church who held senior positions in the Roman Curia for twenty years and the highest position in the College of Cardinals for nine years. His prominence in the hierarchy of the Church was unprecedented for an African and has been equaled by few non-Italians. He began his career in his native country first as an auxiliary bishop and then as archbishop of Cotonou. In 1971 he began his thirty-year career in the Curia. After he had spent several years in the role of senior assistant, he held a series of senior positions as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Bishops

Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal in 1977, Pope John Paul II promoted him to the rank of cardinal bishop in 1986, and his peers elected him dean, the highest office in the College of Cardinals, in 1993. He retired to Benin when he turned 80.