Jean-Louis Tauran

Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran (born 3 April 1943) is a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Roman Curia, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003.

[edit] Biography

Born in Bordeaux, Jean-Louis Tauran studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University (from where he earned licentiates in philosophy and theology, and in 1973 his Doctorate in Canon Law) and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, and the Catholic Institute in Toulouse. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Marius Maziers on September 20, 1969, and worked as a curate in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux before entering the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975. He was secretary of the nunciatures to the Dominican Republic (1975-1978) and to Lebanon (1979-1983). Tauran became an official of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in 1983, and then participated in special missions in Haiti (1984), and Beirut and Damascus (1986). He was also a member of the Vatican delegation to the meetings of the Conference on European Security and Cooperation, Conference on Disarmament in Stockholm, and Cultural Forum in Budapest and later Vienna.

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On December 1, 1990, Tauran was appointed Secretary for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State and Titular Archbishop of Thelepte by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1991 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Justin Francis Rigali serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. As Secretary, Tauran essentially served as the foreign minister of the Vatican. In regards to the Iraqi conflict, he once emphasized the importance of dialogue and the United Nations^[1], and said that "a unilateral war of aggression would constitute a crime against peace and against the Geneva Conventions"^[2].

Representing the Pope, Tauran attended the March 2005 dedication of the new Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. That same year, he was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

In spite of the Cardinal's having Parkinson's disease Pope Benedict appointed Tauran as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on June 25, 2007. This shows the disease is not getting any worse for the cardinal and thus is able to handle more responsibility. The Cardinal fully assumed this position on September 1, 2007.

He is a friend of the Anglican Dr. John Andrew, former rector of St. Thomas Church in New York City. For Andrews' fiftieth anniversary of his ordination in late June 2007, Cardinal Tauran traveled to New York and served as a guest preacher^[4].

Preceded by none	Undersecretary for Relations with States 1989–1 December 1990	Succeeded by Claudio Maria Celli
Preceded by Angelo Sodano	Secretary for Relations with States 1990–2003	Succeeded by Giovanni Lajolo
Preceded by Jorge María Mejía	Librarian of the Vatican Library 2003–2007	Succeeded by Raffaele Farina
Preceded by Jorge María Mejía	Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives 2003–2007	Succeeded by Raffaele Farina
Preceded by Paul Poupard	President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue 2007–present	Succeeded by incumbent