Cardinal Vingt-Trois, retired Paris archbishop, dies at 82

July 22, 2025

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris announced that Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the archbishop emeritus of Paris, died on July 18, at the age of 82. The announcement did not indicate a cause of death.

Born in 1942 and ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1969, Vingt-Trois was appointed auxiliary bishop of Paris (1988), archbishop of Tours (1999), and archbishop of Paris (2005) by Pope St. John Paul II. From 1981 to 1999, he was vicar general of the Archdiocese of Paris and thus Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger’s closest collaborator.

Pope Benedict XVI created Vingt-Trois a cardinal in 2007. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in 2017, a month after he turned 75.

A prolific author of spiritual books, Cardinal Vingt-Trois was also, from 2005 until his resignation, the ordinary for those Eastern Catholics in France who lacked their own local ordinary.

In its obituary of the late cardinal, L’Osservatore Romano paid tribute to his “missionary spirit in dialogue with the contemporary world.”

“Youth, social issues, family, and ethics: these are the pillars on which Cardinal Vingt-Trois’s pastoral commitment was founded, especially during his twelve years at the helm of the Archdiocese of Paris,” the Vatican newspaper reported. “Inspired by a missionary vision and open to dialogue with the contemporary world, he emphasized the ecumenical dimension—welcoming the Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and Moscow, Alexy II—the interreligious dimension—with particular attention to Judaism—and the vast field of culture, considered a tool for evangelization.”

“In recent years, beyond the difficulties of his health, which he endured with courage and patience, he has never ceased to serve, in a different way, as he himself said, through prayer and abandonment to God’s will,” Archbishop Laurent said. “For several weeks, and especially in recent days, he had been gradually entering into the silence of the mystery of God, and it was in this trusting prayer and surrender that he fell peacefully asleep.”

The funeral Mass has been scheduled for July 23 at Notre-Dame Cathedral.

 

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Further information:

• Messages de Mgr Laurent Ulrich à la suite du retour à Dieu du Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archevêque émérite de Paris (Archdiocese of Paris)
• Uno spirito missionario in dialogo con il mondo contemporaneo (L'Osservatore Romano)