# Albert Decourtray

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French Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon

His Eminence Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray Cardinal, Archbishop of Lyon Church Roman Catholic Archdiocese Lyon Installed 1981 Term ended 16 September 1994 Predecessor Alexandre Renard Successor Jean Marie Balland Other posts Cardinal-Priest of Santissima Trinità al Monte Pincio Prelate of Mission de France o Pontigny (1982–1988) Previous posts Auxiliary Bishop of Dijon (1971–1974) Bishop of Dijon (1974–1981) Orders Ordination 29 June 1947 Consecration 3 July 1971 Created cardinal 25 May 1985 by John Paul II Rank Cardinal-Priest Personal details Born (1923-04-09)9 April 1923 Wattignies, France Died 16 September 1994(1994-09-16) (aged 71) Lyon, France Motto In Simplicitate Coat of arms

Styles of Albert Decourtray Reference style His Eminence Spoken style Your Eminence Informal style Cardinal See Lyon

**Albert Florent Augustin Decourtray** [S.T.D.](/source/Doctor_of_Sacred_Theology) (9 April 1923 – 16 September 1994) was a French [Catholic Cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholicism)) and [Archbishop of Lyon](/source/Archdiocese_of_Lyon).

## Biography

### Early life

He was born in the [hamlet](/source/Hamlet_(place)) of L'Amiteuse near [Lille](/source/Lille), France. He entered the [minor seminary](/source/Minor_seminary) of Haubourdin in October 1940, later entering the Grand [Seminary](/source/Seminary) of Lille in 1941. He was ordained on 29 June 1947 and completed his studies at the [Catholic Faculties of Lille](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholic_Faculties_of_Lille&action=edit&redlink=1) in 1948. He then went to Rome in 1948 where he entered the [Pontifical Gregorian University](/source/Pontifical_Gregorian_University) studying for a doctorate in [theology](/source/Theology). Which he was later awarded in 1951 with his thesis on [Nicolas Malebranche](/source/Nicolas_Malebranche). While in Rome, he was also chaplain of the church of Saint-Louis des Français.

### Career

From 1952 until 1966 he served as Professor of [Holy Scripture](/source/Holy_Scripture) at the Grand Seminary of Lille. He was also responsible for the formation of young priests of the [diocese of Lille](/source/Diocese_of_Lille) in 1958. He served as [vicar general](/source/Vicar_general) of the diocese of Lille in 1966.

He was appointed [titular bishop](/source/Titular_see) of Ippona Zárito and [Auxiliary Bishop](/source/Auxiliary_Bishop) of [Dijon](/source/Dijon) by [Pope Paul VI](/source/Pope_Paul_VI) on 27 May 1971. He was named [Bishop of Dijon](/source/Bishop_of_Dijon) in 1974. He was bishop of Dijon until he was promoted to the [metropolitan see of Lyon](/source/Metropolitan_see_of_Lyon) on 29 October 1981. He was elected vice-president of the [Episcopal Conference of France](/source/Conf%C3%A9rence_des_%C3%A9v%C3%AAques_de_France) serving from 1981 until 1987 and was then elected its president, serving until 1990.

Decourtray was created [Cardinal-Priest](/source/Cardinal-Priest) of [SS. Trinità al Monte Pincio](/source/SS._Trinit%C3%A0_al_Monte_Pincio) on 25 May 1985 by [Pope John Paul II](/source/Pope_John_Paul_II). He was a member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See from 1986. He was appointed an Officer of the [Légion d'honneur](/source/L%C3%A9gion_d'honneur) in 1986. He resigned the prelature on 1 October 1988. He was elected to a one-year term as president of the Council of the Christian Churches of France on 17 November 1987. He received his first prize of the [Droits de l'Homme](/source/Conseil_Consultatif_des_Droits_de_l'Homme) in 1988. He was elected a member of the [Académie Française](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_Fran%C3%A7aise) on 1 June 1993.

### Personal life

Decourtray had one brother, Eliane, who died at 17, and two sisters, Paule and Blanche, who both died at a young age. He died at the age of 71 in 1994.

## References

- ["Albert Decourtray (1923–1994)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081117060743/http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=685) (in French). Académie française. 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=685) on 17 November 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.

Catholic Church titles Preceded by Jean-Marie Villot Archbishop of Lyon 29 October 1981 – 16 September 1994 Succeeded by Jean Marie Balland

v t e Cardinals created by John Paul II 1979 Casaroli Caprio Cé Righi-Lambertini Căn Civardi Corripio y Ahumada Asajiro Satowaki Etchegaray Ballestrero Ó Fiaich Carter Macharski Rubin Kung Pin-mei 1983 Khoraish Yago Sabattani Kuharić Casoria Lebrún Moratinos Bernardin Kitbunchu do Nascimento López Trujillo Danneels Williams Martini Lustiger Glemp Vaivods Meisner de Lubac 1985 Dadaglio Lourdusamy Arinze Fresno Innocenti Obando y Bravo Mayer Suquía Goicoechea Hamer Vidal Gulbinowicz Tzadua Tomko Lubachivsky Deskur Poupard Vachon Decourtray Castillo Lara Wetter Piovanelli Simonis Gagnon Stickler Law O'Connor Biffi Pavan 1988 Martínez Somalo Silvestrini Felici Grégoire Padiyara Freire Falcão Giordano dos Santos Canestri Javierre Ortas Pimenta Revollo Bravo Clancy Moreira Neves Hickey Szoka Paskai Tumi Groër Martin Hensbach Sladkevičius Margéot Wu 1991 Sodano Todea Laghi Cassidy Coffy Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi López Rodríguez Sanchez Noè Quarracino Angelini Mahony Posadas Ocampo Bevilacqua Saldarini Daly Ruini Korec Schwery Sterzinsky del Mestri Dezza 1994 Sfeir Vlk Poggi Shirayanagi Fagiolo Furno Oviedo Cavada Winning Suárez Rivera Ortega y Calamino Darmaatmadja Schotte Eyt Agustoni Wamala Keeler Vargas Alzamora Turcotte Carles Gordó Maida Puljić Razafindratandra Tụng Sandoval Íñiguez Echeverría Ruiz Świątek Tonini Koliqi Congar Grillmeier 1998 Medina Estévez Bovone Castrillón Hoyos Antonelli Stafford De Giorgi Fernandes de Araújo Rouco Varela Ambrozic Balland Tettamanzi Pengo Schönborn Rivera Carrera George Shan Kuo-hsi Kozłowiecki Cheli Colasuonno Monduzzi Jaworski Pujats 2001 Re Thuận Cacciavillan Sebastiani Grocholewski Saraiva Martins Sepe Mejía Daoud Pompedda Kasper Degenhardt González Zumárraga Dias Majella Agnelo Rubiano Sáenz McCarrick Connell Bačkis Errázuriz Ossa Terrazas Sandoval Napier Rodríguez Maradiaga Agré Billé Velasco Cipriani Thorne Álvarez Martínez Hummes Vithayathil Bergoglio Policarpo Poletto Murphy-O'Connor Egan Huzar Lehmann Ghattas Honoré Tucci Scheffczyk Dulles 2003 Tauran Martino Marchisano Herranz Casado Lozano Barragán Hamao Nicora Scola Okogie Panafieu Zubeir Wako Amigo Vallejo Rigali O'Brien Scheid Antonelli Bertone Turkson Toppo Pell Bozanić Mẫn Quezada Toruño Barbarin Erdő Ouellet Cottier Joos Špidlík Nagy Catholic Church portal

v t e Académie française seat 4 Jean Desmarets (1634) Jean-Jacques de Mesmes (1676) Jean Testu de Mauroy (1688) Camille Le Tellier (1706) Jean Baptiste Massillon (1718) Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini (1742) Gabriel-Marie Legouvé (1803) Alexandre-Vincent Pineux Duval (1812) Pierre-Simon Ballanche (1842) Jean Vatout (1848) Alexis Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest (1849) Pierre-Antoine Berryer (1852) François-Joseph de Champagny (1869) Charles de Mazade (1882) José-Maria de Heredia (1894) Maurice Barrès (1906) Louis Bertrand (1925) Jean Tharaud (1946) Alphonse Juin (1952) Pierre Emmanuel (1968) Jean Hamburger (1985) Albert Decourtray (1993) Jean-Marie Lustiger (1995) Jean-Luc Marion (2008)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Albert Decourtray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Decourtray) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Decourtray?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.