Jérôme Louis Rakotomalala (15 July 1914 – 1 November 1975) was a
Malagasy Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
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 Tananarive from 1960 until his death, and was elevated to the
cardinalate
The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...
in 1969.
Biography
Jérôme Rakotomalala was born in
Sainte-Marie, and studied at the Regional
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
Ambotaraka. He was
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 31 July 1943 and then did
pastoral
The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
work in
Tananarive
Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...
until 1946. He served as a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at the Ambotaraka seminary, director of
Saint Peter Canisius School, and
vicar general
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...
of Tananarive from 1946 to 1960.
On 4 April 1960 Rakotomalala was appointed
Archbishop of Tananarive by
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
. He received his
episcopal consecration on the following 8 May from Pope John himself, with Bishops
Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie,
CIM and
Fulton J. Sheen serving as
co-consecrators
A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop.
The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...
, in
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...
. Rakotomalala later attended the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
from 1962 to 1965, and sat on the council's
Central Preparatory Commission.
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul 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 State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
created him
Cardinal Priest
A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...
of ''
S. Marie Consolatrice al Tiburtino'' in the
consistory
Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to:
*A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
*Consistor ...
of 28 April 1969. Rakotomalala was the first
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
to hail from
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
as well.
The Cardinal died in Tananarive, at the age of 62. He is buried in the
metropolitan cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
of Tananarive, now called Antananarivo.
See also
*
Catholic Church in Madagascar
References
External links
Catholic-Hierarchy
1914 births
1975 deaths
People from Analanjirofo
Malagasy cardinals
20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Madagascar
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI
Malagasy Roman Catholic archbishops
Malagasy Roman Catholic bishops
Roman Catholic archbishops of Antananarivo
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