Cardinal twenty-three: portrait of an unknown archbishop

“How many times have I said to myself: why me?” »Saturday March 5, 2005, Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. Mgr twenty-three pronounces the homily of his installation mass as a new archbishop of Paris. He evokes his fear of succeeding the overwhelming personality of his “spiritual master”, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, to whom he succeeds?

Or should you see a word of abandonment, in a man entirely dedicated to the service of the Church? This serene confidence is the mark of André Vingt-Trois.

By his benevolent listening and his outspokenness, Mgr André Vingt-Trois (AVT) gains the confidence of the episcopate.

Unlike the charismatic cardinal Lustiger, of which he was the right arm for twenty years, André Vingt-Trois is a pragmatic, who does not like light. Nevertheless, the former auxiliary bishop of Paris, passed by the diocese of Tours very quickly, won the head of the church.

Elected president of the Conference of Bishops of France in 2007, he was created Cardinal by Pope Benoit XVI the same year. By his benevolent listening and his outspokenness, “Avt” gains the confidence of the episcopate. He is a “good father” for the priests of his diocese, whose concerns he shares. Was he not spiritual director for twelve years at the Issy-les-Moulineaux seminar (Hauts-de-Seine)?

Lucid, the Archbishop of Paris has a clear vision of the new church square.

“Under his tune as a nice tomcat, he was a cunning”

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Church of which André twenty-three inherited experienced a crisis situation. The Catholic religion seems to have been erased from the landscape. The faithful have scattered in urban anonymity. Lucid, the Paris archbishop has a clear vision of the new church square, culturally minority in society.

He rubbed with an atheist environment at Henri IV high school. His own parents had abandoned Sunday mass. This observation of crisis is not a source of anxiety for him. He has experienced it: belonging to the church is now based on a personal commitment, born from the meeting with Christ.

But above all, “he believes in the strength of this diffuse belief that persists in the spirits,” says the an atheist writer Pierre Jouve, who published the only book of interviews in which André Vingt-Trois confides ( A mission of freedom Ed. Denoël, 2010).

Passionate about family issues and bioethics, Mgr Twenty-Trois relays the church positions on abortion, embryo or end of life. Educational, but firm. “Under his tune as a nice Matou, he was a cunning,” says publisher and former journalist Michel Cool (1), evoking his “political sense” during demonstrations against marriage for all, in 2013.

Solidarity, reception of migrants, patronages, student chaplaincy, evangelization … Cardinal Vingt-Trois encourages germ initiatives in his diocese. It is strong of this conviction: Christians should not be afraid to testify to their faith in Jesus Christ, where they are. “I think he was too discreet in the media, but it cannot be said that with him, the church has lost ground,” said Pierre Jouve.

Gruff, modest, gnan humor

Behind a gruff character, accompanied by a creaky humor, André Vingt-Trois is a modest man. He spreads little on his faith and devotes himself entirely to work and prayer. “A bed, some memories, a table that had belonged to his mother, an office … He lives in sobriety, all in a huge palace,” recalls Pierre Jouve. André Vingt-Trois also cultivates detachment from life events, which he likes to put into perspective.

Far from reflecting a jaded temperament, it is in him a real spiritual attitude, the sign of infinite confidence in God. “He is not one to leap with joy, but he is convinced that Hope works on history, the story of each”, enlightens Michel Cool. (1) Freedom in faith: interviews with Michel Cool, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, ed. De l’Aube, 2008