Jules-Géraud Saliège
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Jules-Géraud Saliège (24 February 1870 – 5 November 1956) was a French Cardinal of the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He served as Archbishop of Toulouse from 1928 until his death, and was a significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism in France. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. For his efforts to protect Jews during the Nazi Holocaust he was recognised as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.


Biography

Born in Mauriac, Cantal, in the Diocese of Saint-Flour, Jules-Géraud Saliège studied at the
Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
of Saint-Sulpice in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
before being
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
to the priesthood on 21 September 1895. He then taught at the minor seminary in Pleaux until 1903, and at the seminary in Saint-Flour from 1903 to 1907, when he was named its rector. He was made an honorary canon of the cathedral chapter of Saint-Flour on 14 September 1905, before becoming an honorary vicar general on 31 March 1918. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he served as a military chaplain. On 29 October 1925, Saliège was appointed Bishop of Gap by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on 26 January 1926, from Bishop Paul-Augustine Lecoeur, with Bishops Benjamin Roland-Gosselin and Hippolyte de La Celle serving as co-consecrators, in Saint-Flour Cathedral. Saliège was later named
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 ...
of
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
on 17 December 1928.


Nazi period

During the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
occupation of France, he was outspoken in attacking the German treatment of
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and conscription of Frenchmen. For his criticism of the Nazis' and Vichy's anti-Jewish policies, he was praised by the Vatican newspaper. With the free press silenced in
Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...
, Charles Lederman, a Jewish Communist approached Saliège, to alert public opinion to what was being done to the Jews. He told Saliège of the arrests, kidnappings and deportations. Saliège read his famous Pastoral letter the following Sunday. Other bishops - Monseigneur Théas, Bishop of Montauban, Monseigneur Delay, Bishop of Marseilles, Cardinal Gerlier, Archbishop of Lyon, Monseigneur Vansteenberghe of Bayonne and Monseigneur Moussaron, Archbishop of Albi - also denounced the roundups from the pulpit and through parish distributions, in defiance of the Vichy regime. The protest of the bishops is seen by various historians as a turning point in the formerly passive response of the Catholic Church in France.Martin Gilbert; The Righteous - The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust; Doubleday; 2002; ; p.230 Saliège wrote to his parishioners: "The Jews are real men and women. Not everything is permitted against these men and women, against these fathers and mothers. They are part of the human species. They are our brothers like so many others. A Christian should not forget this". The words encouraged other clerics like the Capuchin priest Père Marie-Benoît.A litany of World War Two saints
Jerusalem Post; 11 April 2008.


Post-war

Pope Pius XII created him Cardinal Priest of '' S. Pudenziana'' in the consistory of 18 February 1946. In 1950, the Cardinal excommunicated a priest within his archdiocese for rejecting the dogma of the
Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...
. He also encouraged the
Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
of society. Saliège died in Toulouse, at age 86. He is buried in Saint-Étienne Cathedral, Toulouse. He was posthumously awarded the title '' Righteous among the Nations'' by Yad Vashem.


References


External links


Catholic-Hierarchy


– his activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem website
Jules-Géraud Saliège
- commemoration and photos, at Yad Vashem website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saliege, Jules-Geraud 1870 births 1956 deaths People from Mauriac, Cantal 20th-century French cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII Bishops of Gap Archbishops of Toulouse French Righteous Among the Nations French military chaplains World War I chaplains Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany Catholic Righteous Among the Nations