Henri Teissier
| Henri Antoine Marie Teissier | |
|---|---|
| The Most Reverend | |
| File:Teissier.jpg | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Algiers |
| Appointed | 19 April 1988 |
| Retired | 24 May 2008 |
| Predecessor | Léon-Étienne Duval |
| Successor | Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader |
| Other post | Coadjutor Bishop of Algiers (1980-1988) |
| Previous post | Bishop of Oran (1973-1980) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 24 March 1955 by Léon-Étienne Duval |
| Consecration | 2 February 1973 by Léon-Étienne Duval |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henri Antoine Marie Teissier July 21, 1929 Lyon, France |
| Died | December 1, 2020 (aged 91) |
Henri Antoine Marie Teissier (21 July 1929 – 1 December 2020)[1] was a French-Algerian Catholic Bishop of Algiers and Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers.
Biography
Teissier was born in Lyon and ordained as priest by Diocese of Algiers on 24 May 1955. On 30 November 1972, aged 43, he was appointed by Pope Paul VI Bishop of Oran. He received episcopal consecration on 2 February 1973. On 20 December 1980 he was appointed coadjutor to the archbishop Cardinal Duval in Algiers. In 1988, Cardinal Duval withdrew and Teissier became Archbishop of Algiers.
He had been living in Algeria since 1948 and obtained Algerian citizenship in 1966.[2] Tessier was a member of the Secretariat for relations with non-Christians (1971), as Vice-President of the Arab Caritas International for the country (1975–1987) he was a Muslim-Christian at various symposia and conferences of the two Christians in Palestine involved. Teissier was President of the Conference of Bishops of North Africa from 1982 to 2004.
He is regarded as one of the authoritative representatives of ecumenism between Christianity and Islam. He remained firm in this position despite 19 murders of non-Muslim religious people which occurred between 1994 and 1996. During this period Pierre Claverie, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran, was killed and the assassination of the monks of Tibhirine took place.[3]
When John Paul II named two cardinals in pectore in 1998,[4] Margaret Hebblethwaite suspected Teissier might have been one of those, saying that
...[Teissier's] life could be in great danger if he were made a cardinal[5]
Other sources, though, never believed either of the in pectore cardinals to be Teissier,[6] and in 2001 it would be revealed he was not one of them.[4]
Legion of Honor
On 24 May 2008 Pope Benedict XVI accepted his retirement. He was replaced by Father Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader from Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[7] In 2008 he was appointed a knight of the Legion of Honor for his many honorable and peaceful works.[8][2] Teissier was nominated on 23 September 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI as a member of the Second Special Assembly of the synod for Africa.
Awards
- Knight of the Legion of Honor (July 2007)
Publications
- Church in Islam, Éditions du Centurion, 1984
- The Mission of the Church, Desclee de Brouwer, 1985
- History of Christian North Africa, Desclee de Brouwer, 1991, in collaboration
- Letters from Algeria, Bayard-Centurion, 1998
- Christians in Algeria, sharing hope, Desclée de Brouwer, 2002
See also
References
- Back to citation Hoffner, Anne-Bénédicte (1 December 2020). "Mort de Mgr Henri Teissier, archevêque émérite d'Alger". La Croix (in French). Archived from the original on 1 December 2020.
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 "SE Mgr Henri Teissier". Oasis Center. Fondazione Internazionale Oasis C.F. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- Back to citation Schmid, Thomas (12 March 2004). "The murder of the Trappists of Tibhirine". Le Monde Diplomatique. Algeria Watch.
- Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 The in pectore cardinals were in John Paul's 2001 consistory revealed as Marian Jaworski and Jānis Pujāts.
- Back to citation Hebblethwaite, Peter; Hebblethwaite, Margaret (2000). The next pope: a behind-the-scenes look at how the successor to John Paul II will be elected and where he will lead the church. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. pp. 138–139. ISBN 0060637773.
- Back to citation Tempest, Rone (January 20, 1998). ""Secret" Cardinals Likely in China, Vietnam". Los Angeles Times. p. A6.
- Back to citation "En retraite, Mgr Teissier quitte l' Archevêché d'Alger". El Watan. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- Back to citation "Hommage à notre compatriote Henri Teissier". Archived from the original on 2010-11-27., accessed on 11 June 2009
Bibliography
- Martine de Sauto, Henri Teissier, a bishop in Algeria, Bayard, 2006 ((ISBN 2227471514))