Bernardin Gantin

Bernardin Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals for nine years. He was an auxiliary bishop and then as archbishop of Cotonou. In 1971 he began his thirty-year career in The Vatican.

His Eminence Bernardin Gantin
Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina
Gantin during his early years as a cardinal
Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Palestrina
Installed	29 September 1986
Predecessor	Carlo Confalonieri
Successor	José Saraiva Martins
Orders
Ordination	14 January 1951 by Louis Parisot
Consecration	3 February 1957 by Eugène Tisserant
Created cardinal	27 June 1977 by Pope Paul VI
Personal details
Born	(1922-05-08)8 May 1922 Toffo, Benin
Died	13 May 2008(2008-05-13) (aged 86) Paris, France
Previous post	Auxiliary Bishop of Cotonou (1957–60) Archbishop of Cotonou (1960–71) President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1976–84) Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (1984–98) Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal Bishop of Ostia (1993–2002)
Coat of arms
Styles of Bernardin Gantin Reference style His Eminence Spoken style Your Eminence Informal style Cardinal See Palestrina (suburbicarian)

Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal in 1977, Pope John Paul II promoted him to the rank of cardinal bishop in 1986, and he was elected dean, the highest office in the College of Cardinals, in 1993. He retired to Benin when he turned 80.

Gantin died at a hospital in Paris, France after a long-illness on 13 May 2008, less than a week after being transferred there from Benin and five days after his 86th birthday.