Maurice Feltin

Maurice Feltin (15 May 1883 – 27 September 1975) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paris from 1949 to 1966, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.

His Eminence Maurice Feltin
Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Paris
Portrait.
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Paris
See	Paris
Appointed	15 August 1949
Term ended	1 December 1966
Predecessor	Emmanuel Suhard
Successor	Pierre Veuillot
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Pace (1953-75)
Orders
Ordination	3 July 1909 by Léon-Adolphe Amette
Consecration	11 March 1928 by Charles-Henri-Joseph Binet
Created cardinal	12 January 1953 by Pope Pius XII
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Maurice Feltin
Born	15 May 1883 Delle, Besançon, France
Died	27 September 1975 (aged 92) Thiais, Paris, France
Previous post	Bishop of Troyes (1927-32) Archbishop of Sens (1932-35) Archbishop of Bordeaux (1935-49) Military Vicar of France (1949-66) President of Pax Christi International (1950-65) Ordinary of France of the Eastern Rite (1954-66) President of the French Bishops' Conference (1966-69)
Motto	Animam pro ovibus
Signature
Coat of arms

Styles of Maurice Feltin
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Paris (Emeritus)

Biography

Born in Delle, Territoire-de-Belfort, Maurice Feltin studied at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris before being ordained a priest on 3 July 1909. He then did pastoral work in Besançon until 1914, at which time he was made an officer in the French Army during World War I. For his work, he was awarded with the Croix-de-Guerre, the Médaille militaire, and the Légion d'honneur.

On 19 December 1927, Feltin was appointed Bishop of Troyes by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on 11 March 1928 from Cardinal Henri-Charles-Joseph Binet, with Bishops Paul-Jules-Narcisse Rémond and Jean-Marcel Rodié serving as co-consecrators. Feltin was promoted to Archbishop of Sens on 16 August 1932, and was later named Archbishop of Bordeaux on 16 December 1935. On 15 August 1949, he became the twenty-third Archbishop of Paris.

He was created Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria della Pace by Pope Pius XII in the consistory of 12 January 1953. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1958 papal conclave and the 1963 papal conclave. He attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. He resigned as Paris' archbishop on 21 December 1966.

He died in Thiais, outside Paris, at age 92, and was buried in Notre Dame Cathedral.

Trivia

• Feltin condemned the legend of Santa Claus, claiming that it debased the "Christian significance of Christmas".[1]
• In 1959, Feltin requested of the Holy Office that the Worker-Priest movement be revived, albeit under strict controls; his request, however, was denied.[2]
• In 1963, Feltin denied Édith Piaf a religious funeral due to her "controversial" life.[3] However, on 10 October 2013, fifty years after her death, the Roman Catholic Church gave Piaf a memorial Mass in the St. Jean-Baptiste Church in Belleville, Paris, the parish into which she was born.

References

1. Time Magazine. Death to Santa Claus 7 January 1952
2. Time Magazine. End of the Worker-Priests 28 September 1959
3. Jeffries, Stuart (8 November 2003). "The love of a poet". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2007.

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Newspaper clippings about Maurice Feltin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW