Robert Jean Louis Le Gall O.S.B. (born 26 February 1946) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
from 2006 to 2021. He was previously the Bishop of
Mende from 2001 to 2006.
Biography
Robert Jean Louis Le Gall was born in
Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët
Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former communes of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles and Virey were merged into Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët.
It is approxima ...
, France, on 26 February 1946. At the age of eighteen he entered the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery of Sainte-Anne de Kergonam as a postulant and on 8 December 1965 took temporary vows. After performing his military service in Le Mans, he returned to the monastery and made his solemn profession as a Benedictine on 8 December 1970. After completing his philosophy studies there, he studied theology at the
Abbey of Solesmes
Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes (''Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes'') is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes (Sarthe, France), famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guà ...
from 1971 to 1974. He was ordained a priest in the abbey of Kergonam on 24 August 1974. He earned a licenciate in theology in Freiburg, Switzerland, and then became Prior at Kergonam with responsibility for the guesthouse. He was elected Abbot on 27 May 1983 and took office on 16 July.
[
On 16 October 2001, ]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 ...
appointed him Bishop of Mende.[ from Cardinal Paul Poupard.
In the French Bishops Conference he has been President of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy and Sacramental Pastoral Care.][ He was appointed to a five-year term as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 2 February 2005.
After Pope Benedict authorized the wider use of the extraordinary form of the Mass in 2007, Le Gall, as president of the French Bishops' Liturgy Commission, said advocates for its use exaggerated their numbers and he deplored unauthorized private celebrations of the extraordinary form. By way of contrast, he said those who celebrate the ordinary form needed to reform it by "reintroducing more silence, hierarchy, interiority, and the beauty of liturgical garments".
He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor on 13 July 2004.
On 11 July 2006, ]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 ...
appointed him Archbishop of Toulouse.[
]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. ...
accepted his resignation on 9 December 2021.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Gall, Robert Jean Louis
1946 births
Living people
Clergy from Manche
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France