{{Short description|Mauritian Roman Catholic cardinal}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Maurice Piat | honorific-suffix = [[Holy Ghost Fathers|CSSp]] [[Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean|GCSK]] | title = Cardinal [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis|Bishop Emeritus of Port-Louis]] | image = Cardinal Maurice Piat 2017.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | church = [[Roman Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = Port-Louis | see = Port-Louis | elected = | appointed = 15 February 1993 | enthroned = | term = | term_start = | term_end = 19 May 2023 | quashed = | predecessor = [[Jean Margéot]] | successor = [[Jean Michaël Durhône]] | opposed = | other_post = [[Santa Teresa, Rome|Cardinal-Priest of Santa Teresa al Corso d'Italia]] (2016-) <!---------- Orders ---------->| ordination = 2 August 1970 | ordained_by = Jean Margéot | consecration = 19 May 1991 | consecrated_by = Jean Margéot | cardinal = 19 November 2016 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Francis]] | rank = [[Cardinal-Priest]] <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|07|19|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Moka]], [[Moka District]], [[Mauritius]] | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | tomb = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Coadjutor Bishop of Port-Louis (1991–93)|President of the Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (1996–2002; 2013–16)}} | education = | alma_mater = [[Collège du Saint-Esprit]]<br/>[[Pontifical Gregorian University]] | motto = {{lang|fr|Pousse vers le large}}<br/>(Set out into the deep) | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Maurice Piat.svg | coat_of_arms_alt = | other = }} {{Ordination | ordained deacon by = | date of diaconal ordination = | place of diaconal ordination = | ordained priest by = | date of priestly ordination = 2 August 1970 | place of priestly ordination = | consecrated by = [[Jean Margéot]] | co-consecrators = [[Gilbert Aubry]]<br />[[Alphonsus Mathias]]<br />[[Maurice Couve de Murville (bishop)|Maurice Couve de Murville]] | date of consecration = 19 May 1991 | elevated by = [[Pope Francis]] | date of elevation = 19 November 2016 }} {{Infobox Cardinal styles |name = Maurice Piat |image = Coat of arms of Maurice Piat.svg |image_size = 200px |dipstyle = [[His Eminence]] |offstyle = Your Eminence |relstyle = |deathstyle = }}
'''Maurice Piat''' [[Holy Ghost Fathers|CSSp]] [[Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean|GCSK]] (born 19 July 1941) is a Mauritian prelate of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] who was Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis|Port Louis]], Mauritius, from 1993 to 2023. He is a professed member of the [[Holy Ghost Fathers|Congregation of the Holy Spirit]]. Piat was ordained a priest in 1970 and made a bishop in 1991. [[Pope Francis]] made him a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] on 19 November 2016.
==Life== Maurice Piat was born in 1941 in [[Moka]], Mauritius. He attended the [[Collège du Saint-Esprit]], a middle and high school in [[Quatre Bornes]]. Upon graduating, he entered the [[novitiate]] of the [[Congregation of the Holy Spirit]] in County Tipperary, [[Ireland]], where he made his solemn profession on 8 September 1962. While training at the Holy Ghost College, [[Kimmage Manor]] he obtained a bachelor's degree from [[University College Dublin]].<ref name=HS>{{cite web|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/10/09/161009d.html|title=The new cardinals|date=9 October 2016|publisher=Vatican News Services|access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref> He studied for the priesthood in Rome, while residing at the [[Pontifical French Seminary]]. He was ordained a priest in Rome on 2 August 1970. He earned a licentiate in theology from the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]] in 1972. That same year he spent three months of pastoral ministry in [[Bangalore]], [[India]].
He returned to Mauritius and worked as a catechist and professor at his old college until 1982, when he was made responsible for [[seminarians]] at the Foyer Mgr Murphy in [[Vacoas]]. From 1977 until 1979 followed courses on diocesan formation at the {{ill|Institut de formation des éducateurs du clergé|fr}} (IFEC), in Paris. He returned to his homeland to serve as vicar of the parish of Saint-François-d'Assise in [[Pamplemousses District|Pamplemousses]] from 1979 to 1985. He became the pastor of the parish of Coeur-Immaculé-de-Marie in [[Rivière du Rempart District|Riviere-du-Rempart]] in 1986.<ref name=HS/> From 1981 he was in charge of diocesan pastoral planning.
On 21 January 1991, Pope John Paul II named him the Coadjutor Bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis]]. He received his [[episcopal consecration]] on 19 May 1991 from Cardinal [[Jean Margéot]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Qui est Mgr Piat et que fait un cardinal ?|url=http://www.lexpress.mu/article/291273/qui-est-mgr-piat-et-que-fait-un-cardinal|access-date=18 November 2016|work=L'Express (Mauritius)|date=9 October 2016}}</ref> He chose as his motto "Pousse vers le large" ("Set out into the deep"), a saying of Christ in Luke's Gospel, when he orders Peter the fisherman to cast his net again after a day of unfruitful work .<ref name=lauds>{{cite news|last1=McElwee|first1=Joshua J.|title=Soon-to-be cardinal lauds Francis' focus on the pastoral dimension| url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/soon-be-cardinal-lauds-francis-focus-pastoral-dimension|access-date=18 November 2016| work= National Catholic Reporter|date=17 November 2016}}</ref> On 15 March 1993 he was appointed the eleventh Bishop of Port Louis<ref>{{cite news|language=fr|title=L'Évêque|url=http://www.dioceseportlouis.org/le-diocese/leveque/|access-date=18 November 2016|publisher=Le Diocèse de Port-Louis|archive-date=19 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319133618/http://www.dioceseportlouis.org/le-diocese/leveque/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was installed that same year. Piat served as the President of the [[Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean]] from 1996 to 2002.<ref name=crux>{{cite news|last1=Allen Jr.|first1=John L.|title=Mauritius cardinal confirms that for Francis, 'last shall be first' is the rule|url=https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/10/14/mauritius-cardinal-confirms-francis-last-shall-first-rule/|access-date=18 November 2016|work=CRUX|date=14 October 2016|archive-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118164338/https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/10/14/mauritius-cardinal-confirms-francis-last-shall-first-rule/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In March 2009 the government of Mauritius made him a Grand Officer of the [[Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean]] (GOSK).<ref name=crux/>
In 2015, Piat participated in the [[Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops|Synod on the Family]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Malzac|first1=Marie|title=À l'île Maurice, Mgr Piat a appris qu'il allait devenir cardinal... par des amis qui regardaient la télévision|url=http://urbi-orbi-africa.la-croix.com/afrique/ile-maurice-mgr-piat-cardinal-amis-television/| language=fr| access-date=18 November 2016|work=La Croix|date=13 October 2016}}</ref>
He submitted his resignation as bishop on his 75th birthday as required by canon law.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mgr Maurice Piat démissionne en tant qu'évêque de Port-Louis|url=http://www.lexpress.mu/article/285379/video-mgr-maurice-piat-demissionne-en-tant-queveque-port-louis| access-date=18 November 2016|work=L'Express (Mauritius)|date=13 July 2016 |language=fr}}</ref> [[Pope Francis]] announced on 9 October 2016 that he would raise Piat to the rank of cardinal in a [[Papal consistory|consistory]] on 19 November 2016. When created a cardinal on that date, he was made a Cardinal-Priest and assigned the titular church of [[Santa Teresa, Rome|Santa Teresa al Corso d'Italia]].<ref>{{cite news|title=A Rome: Maurice Piat élevé au rang de cardinal | language = fr |url=http://www.lexpress.mu/article/294046/rome-maurice-piat-eleve-au-rang-cardinal|access-date=19 November 2016|work=L/Express (Mauritius)|date=19 November 2016}}</ref> Mauritius has had only one cardinal before, Piat's immediate predecessor, [[Jean Margéot]].<ref name=defi>{{cite news|title=Mgr Maurice Piat nommé cardinal par le pape| language=fr |url=http://defimedia.info/mgr-maurice-piat-nomme-cardinal-par-le-pape|access-date=18 November 2016| publisher=Defi Media|date=9 October 2016}}</ref>
On 12 March 2017 the government of Mauritius awarded him its highest honour by making him a Grand Commander of [[Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean]] (GCSK).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lemauricien.com/article/national-day-awards-2017-cardinal-piat-eleve-au-rang-gcsk |title=NATIONAL DAY AWARDS 2017 : Le cardinal Piat élevé au rang de GCSK | le Mauricien |website=www.lemauricien.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316021636/http://www.lemauricien.com/article/national-day-awards-2017-cardinal-piat-eleve-au-rang-gcsk |archive-date=2017-03-16}} </ref>
Pope Francis named him a member of the [[Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development]] on 23 December 2017.<ref>{{cite press release| publisher =[[Holy See Press Office]] | date= 23 December 2017 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/12/23/171223a.html | access-date =25 December 2017| title = Resignations and Appointments, 23.12.2017}}</ref>
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as bishop of Port-Louis on 19 May 2023, naming [[Jean Michaël Durhône]] his successor.<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 19 May 2023 | date = 19 May 2023 | language = it | publisher = Holy See Press Office | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/05/19/0375/00821.html | title = Rinunce e nomine, 19.05.2023 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commonscat}} * {{cite web| access-date = 24 October 2017| title= Piat Card. Maurice, C.S.Sp. |publisher= [[Holy See Press Office]] | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_piat_m.html | url-status=live | archive-date= 4 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170904070631/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_piat_m.html }} *[http://www.dioceseportlouis.org/le-diocese/leveque/ Diocese of Port Louis: Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319133618/http://www.dioceseportlouis.org/le-diocese/leveque/ |date=2017-03-19 }} (in French) *[http://www.lemauricien.com/topics/Mgr%20Maurice%20Piat ''Le Mauricien'': articles about Maurice Piat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118162855/http://www.lemauricien.com/topics/Mgr%20Maurice%20Piat |date=2016-11-18 }} *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpiatma.html Catholic Hierarchy]
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=[[Jean Margeot]]}} {{s-ttl|title= [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Louis|Bishop of Port Louis]]|years=1993–present}} {{s-inc|rows=2}} {{s-bef|before=[[Laszlo Paskai]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Cardinal Priest of [[Santa Teresa, Rome|Santa Teresa al Corso d'Italia]]|years=2016–present}} {{s-end}}
{{Cardinals of the Catholic Church|state=collapsed}} {{Cardinals created by Francis}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piat, Maurice}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mauritius]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Port-Louis]] [[Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mauritius]] [[Category:People from Moka District]] [[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of University College Dublin]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis]] [[Category:Mauritian cardinals]] [[Category:Holy Ghost Fathers]]