{{Short description|French archbishop}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Jean-Paul Vesco | honorific-suffix = [[Dominican Order|OP]] | title = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers|Archbishop of Algiers]] | image = Jean-Paul Vesco, OP-022022.jpg | alt = | caption = | church = [[Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = Algiers | diocese = | appointed = 27 December 2021 | enthroned = | term = | predecessor = [[Paul Desfarges]] | successor = | other_post = [[Sacro Cuore di Gesù agonizzante a Vitinia|Cardinal-Priest of Sacro Cuore di Gesù agonizzante a Vitinia]] (2024–) <!-- Orders --> | ordination = 24 June 2001 | ordained_by = | consecration = 25 January 2013 | consecrated_by = [[Philippe Barbarin]] | cardinal = 7 December 2024 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Francis|Francis]] | rank = [[Cardinal priest]] <!-- Personal details --> | birth_name = Jean-Paul Vesco | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|3|10|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Lyon]], [[Rhône (department)|Rhône]], [[France]] | death_date = | death_place = | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran|Bishop of Oran]] (2012–21)}} | coat_of_arms = | motto = | nationality = Algerian<ref name=citizen /> }} '''Jean-Paul Vesco''', [[Dominican Order|OP]] ({{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃pɔl vɛsko}}; born 10 March 1962) is a Franco-Algerian cardinal of the [[Catholic Church]] who serves as the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers|Archbishop of Algiers]]. He has spent most of his clerical career in [[Algeria]] and was [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran|Bishop of Oran]] from 2012 to 2021. He is a member of the [[Dominican order|Dominicans]] and headed the French Dominicans from 2010 to 2012. He was made a cardinal on 7 December 2024 by [[Pope Francis]].
==Biography== Jean-Paul Vesco was born on 10 March 1962 in Lyon. After earning a degree in jurisprudence, he practiced law in Lyon for seven years before joining the Dominicans in 1995, taking his vows on 14 September 1996. Vesco was ordained a priest of the Dominican order on 24 June 2001.<ref name=vatbio/> His uncle, Jean-Luc Vesco (1934–2018), also a Dominican, was a biblical scholar who headed the École Biblique from 1984 to 1991 and led the Dominican province of Toulouse from 1976 to 1984.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 28 December 2021 | language = fr | work = La Croix | url = https://www.la-croix.com/Urbi-et-Orbi/Actualite/Carnet/Le-dominicain-Jean-Luc-Vesco-mort-2018-05-16-1200939482 | date = 16 May 2018 | title = Le dominicain Jean-Luc Vesco est mort | archive-date = 27 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211227164523/https://www.la-croix.com/Urbi-et-Orbi/Actualite/Carnet/Le-dominicain-Jean-Luc-Vesco-mort-2018-05-16-1200939482 | url-status = dead }}</ref> After studies at the [[École Biblique]] in Jerusalem, he moved to [[Tlemcen]], Algeria, in the Diocese of Oran on 6 October 2002.<ref name=vatbio/> This assignment reestablished the Dominican presence in that diocese six years after the assassination of its bishop, [[Pierre Claverie]].<ref name=prieur>{{cite news | url = http://www.la-croix.com/Semaine-en-images/P.-Vesco-prieur-provincial-des-dominicains-de-France-_NG_-2011-01-11-561743 | title = P. Vesco, prieur provincial des dominicains de France | work = La Croix | access-date = 27 December 2021 | date = 1 November 2011}}</ref> From 2005 to 2010 he was [[vicar general]] of the diocese and from 2007 to 2010 he was also diocesan treasurer. On 16 October 2007 he was elected head of the Dominicans in Tlemcen.<ref name=vatbio/>
In December 2010, Vasco was elected Prior Provincial of the Dominicans in France and took up his duties in Paris on 11 January 2011.<ref name=prieur/>
On 1 December 2012, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] appointed him bishop of Oran.<ref name=vatbio>{{cite press release | access-date = 27 December 2021 | language = it | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2012/12/01/0699/01603.html | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 01.12.2012 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date= 1 December 2012 }}</ref> He received his episcopal consecration on 25 January 2013 in the Cathedral of Oran from Cardinal [[Philippe Barbarin]], Archbishop of Lyon, assisted by [[Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader]], archbishop of Algiers and [[Alphonse Georger]], bishop Emeritus of Oran.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Actualite/Mgr-Jean-Paul-Vesco-ordonne-eveque-d-Oran-_NP_-2013-01-24-903239 | title = Mgr Jean-Paul Vesco ordonné évêque d'Oran | work = La Croix | date= 24 January 2013 | access-date = 27 December 2021 | language = fr }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109010129/http://eglise-catholique-algerie.org/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=733 | first = Jean Jacques | last= Pérennès | archive-date= 9 November 2013 | url-status= dead | date= 2 September 2013 | url =http://eglise-catholique-algerie.org/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=733 | website = Église Catholique d'Algérie | language = fr | title = Installation de Mgr. Jean-Paul Vesco 25 Janvier 2013 | access-date = 27 December 2021 }}</ref>
In 2015, he called for the Church to re-evaluate its treatment of divorced Catholics who remarry, writing: "The church's discipline regarding divorced and remarried couples has long troubled me, even revolted me, because of the unnecessary suffering it inflicts on individuals without consideration for their unique situations."<ref name=frat>{{cite news| work= La Croix International | access-date= 7 October 2024 | url= https://international.la-croix.com/religion/future-cardinal-archbishop-jean-paul-vesco-living-fraternity-in-algeria | date = 7 October 2024 | title= Future cardinal Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, living fraternity in Algeria }}</ref>
Among his sensitive assignments was the organization of celebrations in 2018 to mark the beatification of 19 Algerian martyrs.<ref>{{cite news | access-date= 7 October 2024 | date= 7 October 2024 | url= https://international.la-croix.com/world/who-are-the-21-new-cardinals-chosen-by-pope-francis | work= La Croix International | title= Who are the 21 new cardinals chosen by Pope Francis? | first= Malo | last= Tresca | archive-date= 10 October 2024 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241010070243/https://international.la-croix.com/world/who-are-the-21-new-cardinals-chosen-by-pope-francis | url-status= dead }}</ref>
On 27 December 2021, [[Pope Francis]] appointed Vesco archbishop of Algiers.<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 27 December 2021 | language = it | url =https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2021/12/27/0885/01864.html | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 27.12.2021 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date= 27 December 2021 }}</ref>
On 27 February 2023, President [[Abdelmadjid Tebboune]] granted Vesco Algerian citizenship by presidential decree.<ref name=citizen>{{Cite news |date=27 February 2023 |title=President Tebboune grants Algerian nationality to Algiers Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco |language=en |work=Algeria Press Service |url=https://www.aps.dz/en/algeria/46839-president-tebboune-grants-algerian-nationality-to-algiers-archbishop-jean-paul-vesco |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227155307/https://www.aps.dz/en/algeria/46839-president-tebboune-grants-algerian-nationality-to-algiers-archbishop-jean-paul-vesco |archive-date=27 February 2023}}</ref>
On 6 October 2024, Pope Francis announced that he planned to make Vesco a cardinal on 8 December,<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 6 October 2024 | date = 6 October 2024 | language = it | publisher = Holy See Press Office | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/10/06/0774/01532.html | title = Annuncio di Concistoro l'8 dicembre per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali, 06.10.2024 }}</ref> a date that was later changed to 7 December.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 12 October 2024 | url = https://www.ncregister.com/cna/vatican-shares-pope-francis-schedule-for-december-consistory-to-create-cardinals?amp | first = Hannah | last = Brockhaus | date = 12 October 2024 | title = Vatican Shares Pope Francis' Schedule for December Consistory to Create Cardinals | work = National Catholic Register }}</ref>
On 7 December 2024, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, assigning him as a member of the order of cardinal priests the title of [[Sacro Cuore di Gesù agonizzante a Vitinia]].<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 8 December 2024 | date = 7 December 2024 | language = it | publisher = Holy See Press Office | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/12/07/0975/01948.html | title = Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli e delle Diaconie ai nuovi Cardinali, 07.12.2024 }}</ref>
In 2022, he said he expects to live in Algeria for the rest of his life. When he learned he was being made a cardinal he said: "I am the pastor of this church, which seeks to be a bridge, to foster fraternity, and to connect with all humanity. I don’t think being made a cardinal will distance me from Algiers and Algeria. On the contrary, this appointment will root me here even more."<ref name=frat/>
Vesco participated as a [[Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave|cardinal elector]] in the [[2025 papal conclave]] that elected [[Pope Leo XIV]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html| title=Cardinal Electors|date=6 May 2025|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|language=en|access-date=6 May 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506193115/https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html|archive-date=6 May 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Catholic Church in Algeria]] * [[Cardinals created by Pope Francis]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Algiers}} {{Cardinals of the Catholic Church}} {{Cardinals created by Francis}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesco, Jean-Paul}} [[Category:1962 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Clergy from Lyon]] [[Category:French Dominicans]] [[Category:French Roman Catholic bishops in Africa]] [[Category:French Roman Catholic archbishops]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Oran]] [[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Algiers]] [[Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Algeria]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis]] [[Category:Dominican bishops]] [[Category:Dominican cardinals]] [[Category:21st-century French cardinals]]