Hippolyte Simon (25 February 1944 – 25 August 2020) was a French

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

archbishop. He served as Bishop of Clermont from 1996 to 2002 before becoming

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 ...

, serving until 2016. He was Vice-President of the

Bishops' Conference of France The Bishops' Conference of France (french: Conférence des évêques de France) (CEF) is the national episcopal conference of the bishops of the Catholic Church in France. Presidents Presidents of the Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops of Fr ...

from 2007 to 2013.

Biography

After entering the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Coutances Coutances () is a Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. History Capital of the Unelli, a Gauls, Gaulish tribe, the town was given the n ...

, Simon pursued a degree from the Seminary of Bayeux. He subsequently earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...

and another master's in political philosophy from the

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. Here, he defended his thesis, titled ''Le dépérissement de l’État selon Karl Marx''. Simon was ordained on 27 June 1970 in the

Diocese of Coutances The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathed ...

. His first vocation was a lycée chaplain in

Mortain Mortain () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Mortain-Bocage. Geography Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the C ...

, then staying in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Institut des hautes études de défense nationale The ''Institut des hautes études de défense nationale'' (IHEDN) (Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence) is a French public academic institution for research, education and promotion of expertise and sensitization towards defence matte ...

from 1993 to 1994. He was appointed as Bishop of Clermont on 22 February 1996 and took office on 4 May, succeeding Jacques Fihey and residing at the

Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Clermont-Ferrand (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand), is a Gothic cathedral and French national monument located in the town of C ...

. His position was elevated to archbishop status on 16 December 2002 following a redistribution of

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

s in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. Therefore, he became Archbishop of Clermont. Simon represented France in the

Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, formerly the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, ( la, Commissio Episcopatuum Communitatis Europaeae; COMECE) is the association of Catholic Church e ...

until November 2007, when he was succeeded by Christian Katz of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. Monsignor Simon submitted his resignation letter on 22 February 2016 to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, and the resignation took effect on 17 March. Hippolyte Simon died on 25 August 2020 in Caen at the age of 76.

Books

*''Marx, l'État et la Liberté'' (1977) *''Chrétiens dans l'État moderne'' (1984) *''Église et Politique'' (1990) *''Les Vocations'' (1992) *''Vers une France païenne ?'' (1999) *''Libres d’être prêtres'' (2001) *''La Liberté ou les Idoles ?'' (2002) *''Les catholiques et l'Europe'' (2006) *''Vous qui cherchez Dieu, voici un GPS'' (2010)

References

External links

Faut-il à tout prix « un islam de France » ?
Do we need “Islam of France” at all costs?)
« Eglise de France ou Eglise en France ? » par Mgr Simon
“Church of France or Church in France?") {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Hippolyte 1944 births 2020 deaths Deaths from cancer in France Clergy from Manche Writers from Normandy 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in France 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French male writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers French male non-fiction writers French religious writers