Henri Antoine Marie Teissier (21 July 1929 – 1 December 2020)
'' La Croix (newspaper), La Croix'', 1 december 2020 was a French-Algerian Catholic

Bishop of Algiers ) is the Metropolitan bishop, metropolitan Episcopal See, see for the ecclesiastical province of Algiers in Algeria. History * August 10, 1838: Established as Diocese of Algiers from Diocese of Islas Canarias in Spain * 1838: United with Roman Ca ...

and Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers.

Biography

Teissier was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

by Diocese of Algiers on 24 May 1955. On 30 November 1972, aged 43, he was appointed by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

Bishop of

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. He received episcopal consecration on 2 February 1973. On 20 December 1980 he was appointed coadjutor to the archbishop Cardinal Duval in Algiers. In 1988, Cardinal Duval withdrew and Teissier became

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. He had been living in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

since 1948 and obtained Algerian citizenship in 1966. Tessier was a member of the Secretariat for relations with non-Christians (1971), as Vice-President of the Arab Caritas International for the country (1975–1987) he was a Muslim-Christian at various symposia and conferences of the two Christians in Palestine involved. Teissier was President of the Conference of Bishops of North Africa from 1982 to 2004. He is regarded as one of the authoritative representatives of

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

between

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. He remained firm in this position despite 19 murders of non-Muslim religious people which occurred between 1994 and 1996. During this period

Pierre Claverie Pierre-Lucien Claverie, OP (8 May 1938 – 1 August 1996) was a French Catholic prelate who was a professed member from the Order of Preachers and served as the Bishop of Oran from 1981 until his murder in 1996 by Islamic extremists. He was ...

, the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran (french: Diocèse d'Oran, la, Dioecesis Oranensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Algiers in Algeria. History The current diocese of Oran was created on 25 July 1866, with the ...

, was killed and the

assassination of the monks of Tibhirine On the night of 26–27 March 1996, seven monks of the Trappists, Trappist order from the Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas, Our Lady of the Atlas Abbey of Tibhirine near Médéa, Algeria, were kidnapped during the Algerian Civil War. They were held for tw ...

took place.

Legion of Honor

On 24 May 2008

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

accepted his retirement. He was replaced by Father

Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader (Arabic: غالب موسى عبد الله بدر; born 22 July 1951) is a Jordanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico. ...

from

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...

. In 2008 he was appointed a knight of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

for his many honorable and peaceful works.SE Mgr Henri Teissier
accessed on 11 June 2009 Teissier was nominated on 23 September 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI as a member of the Second Special Assembly of the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

for Africa.

Awards

* Knight of the

(July 2007)

Publications

*''Church'' in Islam,

Éditions du Centurion The Éditions du Centurion are a French publishing house established in Paris, 3, rue Bayard, in 1945 by the Assumptionists fathers of the "Maison de la Bonne Presse" which became Bayard Presse in 1969. It then became an autonomous department of ...

, 1984 *''The Mission of the Church'', Desclee de Brouwer, 1985 *''History of Christian North Africa'', Desclee de Brouwer, 1991, in collaboration *''Letters from Algeria'',

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood *Bayard, ...

-Centurion, 1998 *''Christians in Algeria'', sharing hope, Desclée de Brouwer, 2002

Sources

* Martine de Sauto, ''Henri Teissier, a bishop in Algeria'', Bayard, 2006 (())

References

External links

Henri Antoine Marie Teissier on ''Catholic-hierarchy.org''(English)Hommage à notre compatriote Henri Teissier (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teissier, Henri 1929 births 2020 deaths Clergy from Lyon People from Algiers Religion in Algeria French Roman Catholic bishops in Africa Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French emigrants to Algeria French expatriate bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Oran Roman Catholic archbishops of Algiers