Pope pays homage to memory of Cardinal Bernadin Gantin
(23 May, 2008) Pope Benedict on Friday paid homage to the memory of Cardinal Bernadin
Gantin of Benin, who died on May 13, regarding him as a faithful and devoted servant
of the Church. Delivering a homily during a memorial Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Pope Benedict
noted that right up till his death at the age of 86 in a Paris hospital, Cardinal
Gantin always wanted to dedicate himself with loving readiness to the service of God
and neighbour, maintaining the motto of his episcopal ordination - “At Your Holy Service.’
“His human and priestly personality,” the Pope said, “was a marvellous synthesis of
the features of the African soul with the Christian spirit, of the African culture
and identity with Gospel values.” Pope Benedict recalled the career of the late
prelate, noting that he was the first African churchman to have held high posts in
the Roman curia, and he always carried out his duties with that typical simple and
humble style, whose secret perhaps can be traced back to his mother who taught him
never to forget the faraway small village that they came from. Pope Benedict wished
that the soul of the late cardinal be permeated by the love of Christ – the love that
was the driving force in all his commitments. One of the last cardinals to
be named by Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Gantin spent more than 30 years in the Roman Curia,
holding several important positions. When he resigned as the dean of the College
of Cardinals in 2002, Cardinal Gantin chose to return to his own country of Benin,
although he remained deeply attached to the Holy See.