Jean Margéot (3 February 1916 – 17 July 2009) was

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notabl ...

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 let ...

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 partic ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

Education

A native of Quatre-Bornes,

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, Jean Margéot attended Collège Père Laval before attending the

Royal College Curepipe The Royal College Curepipe (commonly known as RCC) is a public secondary school with high admission standards in Curepipe, Mauritius. Since 1791 it has been regarded as one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Mauritius. In the past, ...

. He travelled to Rome for further religious studies. Margéot was ordained a priest on 17 December 1938 at Basilica Saint-Jean-de-Latran in Rome.

Priesthood in Mauritius

He was consecrated as Bishop of the

Diocese of Port-Louis The Diocese of Port-Louis (Latin: ''Portus Ludovici''; French: ''Diocèse de Port-Louis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius. History O ...

on 4 May 1969 and served until 15 February, 1993. He was President of the Conférence Episcopale de l'Océan Indien from 1986–1989.

Elevation to rank of Cardinal

Margéot was named a cardinal by

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 ...

on 28 June 1988 becoming

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of San Gabriele Arcangelo all'Acqua Traversa, the first cardinal from

. Following his death in 2009 at the age of 93, Margéot was lauded by

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 sovereig ...

in a public statement.

Contribution to society

Following the

1968 Mauritian riots The 1968 Mauritian riots refers to a number of violent clashes that occurred in the Port Louis, Mauritius, Port Louis neighbourhoods of Cité Martial and Plaine Verte in Mauritius over a period of ten days, six weeks before the country's declara ...

Jean Margéot worked to reconcile the racial and religious tensions which existed at the time of the island's Independence. In the 1960s he was the founder of Action Familiale which assisted in managing rising population growth-rate. In more recent times Cardinal Jean Margéot's main contributions have been the holistic training of clergy and his followers. He is also credited for appeasing public anger during the 1999 Mauritian riots following the murder in custody of Kaya (Mauritian musician). Pope Benedict paid tribute to Margéot especially for having promoted the importance of the family in a stable society.

Publications

Jean Margéot published several books including "Civilisation Mauricienne Et Valeurs Morales : Lettre Pastorale de Careme 1993" and "Le voyage intérieur : Dialogues sur la prière et la méditation" in 2007.

Legacy

A period of national mourning was announced throughout Mauritius and sporting events were suspended when Cardinal Jean Margéot died. In recognition of the contribution of Cardinal Jean Margéot a new training institute was named Institut Cardinal Jean Margéot in 2009. It specialises in Catholic education and is located at Maison de Carné along Célicourt Antelme street in Rose Hill. The main bus terminal of

Beau Bassin-Rose Hill Beau Bassin-Rose Hill (or Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill; french: Villes sœurs; ) is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District. It is administered by the Municipal Council of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and has a population of 147,066 habi ...

was also named Place Cardinal Jean Margéot in honour of the high priest.

External links

Jean Margéot biodata
* ttp://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmargeotj.html Catholic Hierarchy website/biodata

References

1916 births 2009 deaths Mauritian cardinals Roman Catholic bishops of Port-Louis People from Plaines Wilhems District 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mauritius Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Mauritian Roman Catholic bishops {{africa-RC-bishop-stub