# Maurice Feltin

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French Catholic cardinal (1883–1975)

His Eminence Maurice Feltin Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Paris Portrait Church Catholic Church Archdiocese Paris See Paris Appointed 15 August 1949 Term ended 1 December 1966 Predecessor Emmanuel Suhard Successor Pierre Veuillot Other post Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Pace (1953–75) Previous posts 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) 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 Born Maurice Feltin 15 May 1883 Delle, Territoire de Belfort, France Died 27 September 1975(1975-09-27) (aged 92) Thiais, Val-de-Marne, France Motto Animam pro ovibus Signature Coat of arms

Styles of Maurice Feltin Reference style His Eminence Spoken style Your Eminence Religious style Cardinal Posthumous style not applicable Informal style Cardinal See Paris (Emeritus)

**Maurice Feltin** (French pronunciation: [\[mɔʁis fɛltɛ̃, moʁ-\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French); 15 May 1883 – 27 September 1975) was a French [cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholic_Church)) of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church). He served as [Archbishop of Paris](/source/Archbishop_of_Paris) from 1949 to 1966, and was elevated to the [cardinalate](/source/Cardinal_(Catholic_Church)) in 1953 by [Pope Pius XII](/source/Pope_Pius_XII).

## Biography

Born in [Delle](/source/Delle), [Territoire-de-Belfort](/source/Territoire-de-Belfort), Feltin studied at the [Seminary](/source/Seminary) [of Saint-Sulpice](/source/Sulpitius_the_Pious) in [Paris](/source/Paris) before being [ordained](/source/Holy_orders) a [priest](/source/Priesthood_(Catholic_Church)) on 3 July 1909. He then did [pastoral](/source/Parish_(Catholic_Church)) work in [Besançon](/source/Besan%C3%A7on) until 1914, at which time he was made an officer in the [French Army](/source/French_Army) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). For his service as a [stretcher bearer](/source/Stretcher_bearer) with the rank of sergeant, he was awarded the [Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre), the [Médaille militaire](/source/M%C3%A9daille_militaire), and the [Légion d'honneur](/source/Legion_of_Honour).

On 19 December 1927, Feltin was appointed [Bishop of Troyes](/source/Bishopric_of_Troyes) by [Pope Pius XI](/source/Pope_Pius_XI). He received his [episcopal consecration](/source/Bishop_(Catholic_Church)) on 11 March 1928 from Cardinal [Charles-Henri-Joseph Binet](/source/Charles-Henri-Joseph_Binet), with Bishops Paul-Jules-Narcisse Rémond and Jean-Marcel Rodié serving as [co-consecrators](/source/Consecrator). Feltin was promoted to [Archbishop of Sens](/source/Archbishop_of_Sens) on 16 August 1932, and was later named [Archbishop of Bordeaux](/source/Archbishopric_of_Bordeaux) on 16 December 1935. After the [defeat](/source/Battle_of_France) of France in the summer of 1940 Feltin supported the [Vichy](/source/Vichy_France) regime of Marshal [Pétain](/source/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain). However, he also sheltered Jews fleeing [German-occupied France](/source/German_military_administration_in_occupied_France_during_World_War_II) and helped the Grand Rabbi of France escape the [Gestapo](/source/Gestapo).[1] On 15 August 1949, he became the twenty-third [Archbishop of Paris](/source/Archbishop_of_Paris).

He was created [Cardinal-Priest](/source/Cardinal_(Catholic_Church)) of [Santa Maria della Pace](/source/Santa_Maria_della_Pace) by [Pope Pius XII](/source/Pope_Pius_XII) in the [consistory](/source/Papal_consistory) of 12 January 1953. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the [1958 papal conclave](/source/1958_papal_conclave) and the [1963 papal conclave](/source/1963_papal_conclave).

During the [Algerian War](/source/Algerian_War) Feltin strongly supported the French Army and dismissed allegations of widespread torture as "exaggerations". He accused people who spread such information with undermining national unity and insulting the honor of the army. In the fall of 1959, he met with General [Jacques Massu](/source/Jacques_Massu), a leading advocate for the use of torture, reassuring him that the Church supported the army. Feltin denounced the use of torture in 1960 but continued his opposition to the legalization of [conscientious objection](/source/Conscientious_objection) in France, rejecting objections to the war by certain French Catholics. In anti-war Catholic circles, Feltin's actions were met with displeasure.[2]

He attended the [Second Vatican Council](/source/Second_Vatican_Council) from 1962 to 1965. He resigned as Paris's archbishop on 21 December 1966. After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on 11 April 1969 at the convent of the Divine Master in [Ariccia](/source/Ariccia), he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads of [Freemasonry](/source/Freemasonry).[3]

He died in [Thiais](/source/Thiais), outside Paris, at age 92, and was buried in [Notre Dame Cathedral](/source/Notre-Dame_de_Paris).

## Trivia

- Feltin condemned the legend of [Santa Claus](/source/Santa_Claus), claiming that it debased the "[Christian](/source/Christianity) significance of [Christmas](/source/Christmas)".[4]

- In 1959, Feltin requested of the [Holy Office](/source/Holy_Office) that the [Worker-Priest movement](/source/Worker-Priest) be revived, albeit under strict controls; his request, however, was denied.[5]

- In 1963, Feltin denied [Édith Piaf](/source/%C3%89dith_Piaf) a religious funeral due to her controversial life.[6] 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. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Cardinal Feltin of France Dead; Archbishop Led Worker‐Priests"](https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/28/archives/cardinal-feltin-of-france-dead-archbishop-led-workerpriests.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Johnston-White, Rachel (2019). ["A New Primacy of Conscience? Conscientious Objection, French Catholicism and the State during the Algerian War"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022009417714315#body-ref-fn11-0022009417714315). *Journal of Contemporary History*. **54** (1): 112–138.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Magister,_1999_3-0)** [Sandro Magister](/source/Sandro_Magister) (19 August 1999). ["Tra il papa e il massone non c'è comunione"](https://chiesa-espresso-repubblica-it.translate.goog/articolo/7167.html?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=it&_x_tr_pto=wapp) [There is no communion between the pope and the Mason] (in Italian). [L'Espresso](/source/L'Espresso).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Time Magazine. [Death to Santa Claus](https://web.archive.org/web/20101125213554/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,815802,00.html) 7 January 1952

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Time Magazine. [End of the Worker-Priests](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214173641/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811293,00.html) 28 September 1959

1. **[^](#cite_ref-guardian03_6-0)** Jeffries, Stuart (8 November 2003). ["The love of a poet"](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/08/popandrock.art). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 19 July 2007.

## External links

- [Catholic-Hierarchy](http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfeltin.html)

- [Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church](https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1953.htm#Feltin)

- [Newspaper clippings about Maurice Feltin](https://purl.org/pressemappe20/folder/pe/005082) in the [20th Century Press Archives](/source/20th_Century_Press_Archives) of the [ZBW](/source/German_National_Library_of_Economics)

Catholic Church titles Preceded by Laurent-Marie-Etienne Monnier Bishop of Troyes 1927–1932 Succeeded by Joseph-Jean Heintz Preceded by Jean-Victor-Emile Chesnelong Archbishop of Sens 1932–1935 Succeeded by Frédéric Lamy Preceded by Pierre Andrieu Archbishop of Bordeaux 1935—1949 Succeeded by Paul-Marie-André Richaud Preceded by Emmanuel Célestin Suhard Archbishop of Paris 1949–1966 Succeeded by Pierre Veuillot Preceded by First International President of Pax Christi 1950–1965 Succeeded by Bernard Alfrink Preceded by Achille Liénart President of the French Episcopal Conference 1964–1969 Succeeded by François Marty Preceded by August Hlond Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Pace 1953–1975 Succeeded by Joseph Asajiro Satowaki

v t e Archbishops of Paris During the ancien régime Jean-François de Gondi Jean François Paul de Gondi Pierre de Marca Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont François de Harlay de Champvallon Louis-Antoine de Noailles Charles-Gaspard-Guillaume de Vintimille du Luc Jacques Bonne-Gigault de Bellefonds Christophe de Beaumont Antoine-Eléonore-Léon Le Clerc de Juigné Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel After the French Revolution (1779) Jean Baptiste de Belloy-Morangle Jean-Sifrein Maury Alexandre-Angélique Talleyrand de Périgord Hyacinthe-Louis De Quelen Denis Auguste Affre Marie Dominique Auguste Sibour François-Nicholas-Madeleine Morlot Georges Darboy Joseph Hippolyte Guibert François-Marie-Benjamin Richard Léon-Adolphe Amette Louis-Ernest Dubois Jean Verdier Emmanuel Célestin Suhard Maurice Feltin Pierre Veuillot François Marty Jean-Marie Lustiger André Vingt-Trois Michel Aupetit Laurent Ulrich Catholicism portal

v t e Cardinals created by Pius XII 1946 Agagianian Glennon Masella Micara Sapieha Mooney Saliège McGuigan Stritch Parrado y García Roques de Jong Vasconcellos Motto Petit de Julleville Gilroy Spellman Caro Rodríguez de Gouveia de Barros Câmara Pla y Deniel Arteaga y Betancourt Frings Guevara Griffin Arce y Ochotorena Mindszenty Ruffini von Preysing von Galen Caggiano Tien Ken-sin Bruno 1953 Constantini da Silva Cicognani Roncalli Valeri Ciriaci Borgongini Duca Feltin Mimmi de la Torre Stepinac Grente Siri D'Alton McIntyre Lercaro Wyszyński de Arriba y Castro Quiroga y Palacios Léger Luque Sánchez Wendel Ottaviani Gracias Catholic Church portal

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