Georges Grente

{{Short description|French Cardinal}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal  | honorific-prefix = His Eminence | name = Georges Grente | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Cardinal (Roman Catholicism)|Cardinal]]-[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Mans|Bishop of Le Mans]] | image = Georges Grente-1936.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = | church = Roman Catholic Church | archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours|Archdiocese of Tours]] | province = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours]] | metropolis = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours]] | diocese = Le Mans | see = | term_start = 30 January 1918 | term_end = 5 May 1959 | predecessor = [[Raymond-Marie-Turiaf de La Porte]] | successor = [[Paul-Léon-Jean Chevalier]] | opposed = | other_post = [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal Priest]] of ''[[San Bernardo alle Terme|S. Bernardo alle Terme]]'' <br /> [[Assistant at the Pontifical Throne]]  | ordination = 29 June 1895 | consecration = 17 April 1918 by Cardinal [[Louis-Ernest Dubois]], Bishops [[Claude Bardel]] and [[Joseph Guérard]] | cardinal = 12 January 1953 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Pius XII]] | rank = [[Cardinal-priest]]  | birth_name = Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente | birth_date = {{Birth date|1872|5|5}} | birth_place = Percy, [[Coutances]], [[France]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1959|5|5|1872|5|5}} | death_place = [[Le Mans]], [[France]] | buried = [[Le Mans Cathedral|Cathedral of Le Mans]] | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = [[French people|French]] | religion = Roman Catholicism | residence = | parents = | alma_mater = [[University of Paris|University of Paris School of Law]]<br />[[Seminary|Major Seminary]] of Coutances<br />[[Institut Catholique de Paris|Catholic Institute of Paris]] | motto = ''Dux unitam exemplar'' | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Georges Grente.svg | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | other = }} {{Infobox cardinalstyles | cardinal name=Georges Grente | dipstyle=[[His Eminence]] | offstyle=Your Eminence | See=[[Diocese of Le Mans|Le Mans]] | image= Coat of arms of Georges Grente.svg| image_size = 200px| }} '''Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente''' (5 May 1872 – 5 May 1959) was a French [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. He served as [[Diocese of Le Mans|Archbishop of Le Mans]] from 1918 until his death, and was elevated to the [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinalate]] in 1953 by [[Pope Pius XII]].

==Biography== Georges Grente was born in Percy, [[Coutances]], and studied at the [[University of Paris|University of Paris School of Law]], [[Seminary|Major Seminary]] of Coutances, and [[Institut Catholique de Paris|Catholic Institute of Paris]]. He was [[Holy Orders|ordained]] to the [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priesthood]] on 29 June 1895, and then taught at the [[minor seminary]] in [[Mortain]] until 1903.

Grente was [[Director (education)|director]] of the [[Diocese|diocesan]] College of Saint Louis from 1903 to 1916, whence he became [[Superior (hierarchy)|superior]] of [[St. Paul Institute]] in [[Cherbourg-Octeville|Cherbourg]]. He was made an [[Title of honor|honorary]] [[Canon (priest)|canon]] of the [[cathedral]] [[Chapter (religion)|chapter]] of Coutances in 1917.

On 30 January 1918, Grente was appointed [[Diocese of Le Mans|Bishop of Le Mans]] by [[Pope Benedict XV]]. He received his [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|episcopal consecration]] on the following 17 April from Cardinal [[Louis-Ernest Dubois]], with Bishops [[Claude Bardel]] and [[Joseph Guérard]] serving as [[Consecrator|co-consecrators]]. He was given the title of [[Assistant at the Pontifical Throne]] on 18 January 1933, and personal title of "[[Archbishop]]" in March 1943. During [[World War II]], Grente worked in the [[French Resistance|French resistance movement]].<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Milestones | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869102-2,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022165803/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869102-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 22, 2012 | magazine=Time| date=18 May 1959 | accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>

[[Pope Pius XII]] created him [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal-Priest]] of ''[[San Bernardo alle Terme|S. Bernardo alle Terme]]'' in the [[Papal consistory|consistory]] of 12 January 1953. Despite speculation that his poor health would prevent him from participating,<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Religion: The Succession | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863976,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154049/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863976,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 30, 2007 | magazine=Time | date=20 October 1958 | accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref> Grente was one of the [[Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1958|cardinal electors]] in the [[Papal conclave, 1958|1958 papal conclave]], which selected [[Pope John XXIII]] {{Citation needed|reason=Grente was in the time of conclave older than 80 years, therefore it is not probable he would have been member of this conclave|date=May 2013}}. A member of the ''[[Académie française]]'', he was in close correspondence with [[Charles de Gaulle]] as well. It was in a letter to Grente that de Gaulle made his famous distinction between ''la France chrétienne'' and ''la république läique''.

The Cardinal died in [[Le Mans]], on his 87th birthday, and was buried in the [[Le Mans Cathedral|Cathedral of Le Mans]] (his heart however was interred in the church at Percy). He had served as the [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|ordinary]] of that city for over forty years. Academically eminent but pretentious in manner, Grente was satirized by his clergy. He was subject to an attack by the Canard Enchaîné on his ownership of brothels near the cathedral purchased unsuccessfully (given opposition by civil and military authorities) in view of their closure, renewed by [[Jean Egen]] in 1973. In 1998, Grente was the posthumous object of an attempt at [[character assassination]] by [[Christian Gury]].

==References== <references/>

==External links== *[https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios-g.htm#Grente Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church] *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgrente.html Catholic-Hierarchy]

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=[[Diocese of Le Mans|Archbishop of Le Mans]] | before=[[Raymond-Marie-Turiaf de La Porte]] | after=[[Paul-Léon-Jean Chevalier]] | years=1918–1959 }} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box | title = [[List of living cardinals|Oldest living Member of the Sacred College]] | years = 4 December 1958 – 5 May 1959 | before = [[José María Caro Rodríguez]] | after = [[Elia Dalla Costa]] }} {{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grente, Georges-Francois-Xavier-Marie}} [[Category:1872 births]] [[Category:1959 deaths]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII]] [[Category:20th-century French cardinals]] [[Category:Bishops of Le Mans]] [[Category:Members of the Académie Française]] [[Category:University of Paris alumni]]