Paul-Marie-Maurice Perrin (30 June 1904 – 3 October 1994) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in Tunisia, including more than a decade as Archbishop of Carthage. He oversaw the dismantling of the Church's presence there with the end of French colonial rule in Tunisia. He then worked in Iraq as both archbishop and diplomat from 1965 to 1970 and ended his career as the Holy See's representative in Ethiopia from 1970 to 1972.

Biography

Maurice Perrin was born on 30 June 1904 in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, France. He moved to Tunisia as a child and studied there and in Beirut before earning an engineering degree in France in 1927. He worked as an engineer in northern France for three years before returning to Tunis and entering the seminary. He was ordained a priest of the

Archdiocese of Carthage The Archdiocese of Carthage, also known as the Church of Carthage, was a Latin Catholic diocese established in Carthage, Roman Empire, in the 2nd century. Agrippin was the first named bishop, around 230 AD. The temporal importance of the city of ...

, Tunisia, on 29 June 1936. On 7 June 1947,

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

appointed him titular archbishop of Utica and auxiliary bishop of Carthage. He received his episcopal consecration on 28 October 1947 from Charles-Albert Gounot, Archbishop of Carthage. On 29 October 1953, Pope Pius named him Archbishop of Carthage. Perrin became Archbishop as Tunisia was struggling to establish its independence from France. Having achieved its independence on 20 March 1956, Tunisia then asserted its national aspirations against the Europeans, including restrictions on Christian worship. After years of negotiations, the Holy See and Tunisia signed an agreement called a ''modus vivendi'' that ceded all but a few Church properties to the government. On 9 July 1964, the Archdiocese of Carthage was reorganized as the Territorial Prelature of Tunis. Perrin became the Territorial Prelate and titular archbishop of

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

. He held that post of territorial prelate for exactly six months before leaving Tunisia "at the request of the government" and receiving from Pope Paul the honorific title of

Assistant to the Papal throne The Bishops-Assistant at the Pontifical Throne were ecclesiastical titles in the Roman Catholic Church. It designated prelates belonging to the Papal Chapel, who stood near the throne of the Pope at solemn functions. They ranked immediately below ...

on 4 January 1965.

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 ...

named Perrin Apostolic Delegate to Iraq on 31 July 1965 and Archbishop of Baghdad on 2 August. He was the first representative of the Holy See given diplomatic status by the Iraqi Republic. His pastoral role was minimal. On 14 October 1966 his title changed to Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Iraq. On 16 January 1970, Pope Paul appointed him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Ethiopia and titular archbishop of Gurza. He retired at age 68 as he was replaced in Ethiopia in November 1972 by

Ippolito Rotoli Ippolito Rotoli (2 September 1914 – 4 October 1977) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1967 and from then until his death served as an Apostolic Nuncio. B ...

. He died on 3 October 1994.

Notes

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Paul-Marie-Maurice Perrin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrin, Maurice 1904 births 1994 deaths Clergy from Grenoble Apostolic Nuncios to Iraq Apostolic Nuncios to Ethiopia Roman Catholic bishops in the Middle East