Jean-Louis Tauran

His Eminence Jean-Louis Tauran
President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Appointed	25 June 2007
Installed	1 September 2007
Predecessor	Paul Poupard
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Deacon of Sant’Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine
Orders
Ordination	20 September 1969
Consecration	6 January 1991 by Pope John Paul II
Created cardinal	21 October 2003
Rank	Cardinal Deacon
Personal details
Born	(1943-04-03) 3 April 1943 Bordeaux, France
Nationality	French
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Thelepte (1990–2003) Secretary for Relations with States (1990–2003) Librarian of the Holy Roman Church (2003–2007) Archivist of the Holy Roman Church (2003–2007)
Motto	Veritate et Caritate (Truth and Love)
Coat of arms

Styles of Jean-Louis Tauran
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Thelepte (titular see)

Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran (born 5 April 1943) is a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003 and is the current Cardinal Protodeacon.

Biography

Born in Bordeaux, 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 20 September 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.

Secretary for Relations with States

On 1 December 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 6 January 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, and said that "a unilateral war of aggression would constitute a crime against peace and against the Geneva Conventions".

Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church

He was created Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Apollinare alle Terme by Pope John Paul in the consistory of 21 October 2003. On the following 24 November, he was named Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, overseeing the Vatican Secret Archives and Vatican Library.

In late 2003, Tauran mourned the "second-class" treatment of non-Muslims in "many Muslim countries," especially Saudi Arabia.

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.

President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

In spite of having Parkinson's disease, Tauran was appointed as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on 25 June 2007, showing that the disease was not getting worse and he was able to handle more responsibility. He took over this position on 1 September 2007. In this post, he is also in charge of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims.

In addition to his duties as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, he is a member of the Secretariat of State (Second Section); the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; the Congregation for Bishops; the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; the Pontifical Council for Culture; the Apostolic Signatura; the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See; the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, and the Cardinal Commission for the Supervision of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

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

He was a friend of Anglican Dr. Roger Greenacre, former Precentor of Chichester Cathedral in England. For Greenacre's fiftieth anniversary of his ordination at Michaelmas (the Feast of the Archangel Saint Michael) of 2005, Cardinal Tauran traveled to Chichester and served as a guest preacher. Cardinal Tauran delivered a tribute at Greenacre's Memorial Requiem in Chichester Cathedral on 23 September 2011.

In an April 2012 message marking the upcoming Buddhist celebration of Vesakh, a feast commemorating the key events in the life of the Buddha, Tauran said that "Young people are an asset for all societies" and called for education about varieties of religious practice in order to allow them to "advance together as responsible human beings and to be ready to join hands with those of other religions to resolve conflicts and to promote friendship, justice, peace and authentic human development".

Views

War in Iraq

Tauran was a fierce critic of the United States over questions of war and peace. He described the American-led invasion of Iraq as a "crime against peace" and a violation of international law if undertaken. He asserted that the facts speak for themselves on Iraq and that paradoxically Christians were better protected under Saddam Hussein.

Interfaith relations

Each year the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sends a message, signed by its President, to Hindus for the feast of Diwali, which is celebrated during the month of October. In the 2009 message, Tauran called for the promotion of integral development, protection of human life and respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of the person.

The Council sends similar messages each year on the occasion of the feasts of Eid ul-Fitr (Islam) and Vesak (Buddhism).

Sharia

In a breakfast meeting with journalists, Tauran said Rowan Williams had been “mistaken and naive” for suggesting that some aspects of Sharia law in Britain were unavoidable. He also said that he did not want an impression to grow that there are different classes of religion.

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Catholic-pages.com
• Al Jazeera interview