Bernardin Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese Catholic prelate 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 and returned to Benin when he turned 80. His cause for beatification was opened after his death and he was declared a Servant of God by Pope Francis.
Early career
Bernadin Gantin was born in Toffo, French Dahomey (now Benin), on 8 May 1922. His name means "tree of iron" (gan, iron and tin, tree ). His father was a railway worker. He entered the minor seminary in Ouidah at age fourteen and was ordained to the priesthood on 14 January 1951 in Lomé, Togo, by Archbishop Louis Parisot of Cotonou. He then fulfilled pastoral assignments while also teaching languages at the seminary. In 1953 he was sent to Rome where he studied at the Pontifical Urban University and then at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he earned his licentiate in theology and canon law.
On 11 December 1956, Pope Pius XII appointed him titular bishop of Tipasa and auxiliary bishop of Cotonou. He received his episcopal consecration on 3 February 1957 from Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, Dean of the College of Cardinals. On 5 January 1960, Pope John XXIII appointed him Archbishop of Cotonou. As archbishop, he attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), where he first became friends with the future Pope John Paul II.
He was chairman of the West African Episcopal Conference.
