Tag: bishop laurent noël

Council survivors

For the startof the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI intends to celebrate the opening Mass with the surviving Council fathers. But how many of the bishops who attended the Second Vatican Council are still alive, and, come to think of it, who are they?

With the help of the great resource that is Catholic Hierarchy, I have compiled the following list. The bishops are listed according to their last name. Also included are their function(s) at the time of the Council and their current age.

  • ANGELINI, Fiorenzo: Curial official (now 95)
  • ARINZE, Francis: Coadjutor Bishop of Onitsha (now 79)
  • BANTIGUE Y NATIVIDAD, Pedro: Auxiliary Bishop of Manila (now 92)
  • BETTAZZI, Luigi: Auxiliary Bishop of Bologna (now 88)
  • BLANCHOUD, Moisés Julio: Auxiliary Bishop and later Bishop of Río Cuarto (now 88)
  • BLUYSSEN, Johannes Willem Maria: Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s Hertogenbosch (now 86)
  • BOWERS, Joseph Oliver: Bishop of Accra (now 102)
  • CÁCERES GONZÁLEZ, Roberto Reinaldo:Bishop of Melo (now 91)
  • CALHEIROS NOVAES (DE NOVAIS), Waldyr: Auxiliary Bishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (now 88)
  • CANESTRI, Giovanni: Auxiliary Bishop of Roma (now 93)
  • CAPUCCI, Hilarion: Auxiliary Bishop of Antiochia (Melkite) (now 90)
  • CAZZARO BERTOLLO, Savino Bernardo Maria: Vicar Apostolic of Aysén (now 87)
  • COELHO, Jaime Luiz: Bishop of Maringá (now 95)
  • CORNEJO RADAVERO, Mario Renato: Auxiliary Bishop of Lima (now 84) (left the Church in 1969)
  • CHARBONNEAU, Paul-Émile: Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa, later Bishop of Hull (now 90)
  • CH’ENG SHIH-KUANG, Paul: Auxiliary Bishop of Taipei (now 96)
  • CÍRIO, Armando: Bishop of Toledo (now 96)
  • CUNIBERTI, Angelo: Vicar Apostolic of Florencia (now 91)
  • DE ARAÚJO SALES, Eugênio: Auxiliary Bishop and later Apostolic Administrator of Natal, later also Apostolic Adminstrator of São Salvador de Bahia (now 91)
  • DE ROO, Remi Joseph: Bishop of Victoria (now 88)
  • DELLY, Emmanuel III (Emmanuel-Karim): Auxiliary Bishop of Babylon (Chaldean) (now 84)
  • DEMARTEAU, Wilhelmus Joannes (Guillaume Jean): Bishop of Bandjarmasin (now 95)
  • DIAS NOGUEIRA, Eurico: Bishop of Vila Cabral (now 89)
  • DIAZ CUEVA, José Gabriel: Auxiliary Bishop of Guayaquil (now 87)
  • DÍAZ MERCHÁN, Gabino: Bishop of Guadix (now 86)
  • DOSSEH-ANYRON, Robert-Casimir Tonyui Messan: Bishop of Lomé (now 86)
  • DUPONT, Georges-Hilaire: Bishop of Pala (now 92)
  • FERNANDES DE ARAÚJO, Serafim: Auxiliary Bishop of Belo Horizonte (now 87)
  • GARAVITO JIMÉNEZ, Gregorio: Auxiliary Bishop of Villavicencio (now 93)
  • GARAYGORDÓBIL BERRIZBEITIA, Victor: Prelate of Los Ríos (now 96)
  • GARCIA AYALA, José de Jesús: Auxiliary Bishop of Campeche (now 102)
  • HADDAD, Grégoire: Auxiliary Bishop of Beirut and Jbeil (Melkite) (now 87)
  • HAYES, James Martin: Auxiliary Bishop of Halifax (now 88)
  • HERRERA RIERA, Eduardo: Auxiliary Bishop of Cumaná (now 84)
  • HUNTHAUSEN, Raymond Gerhardt: Bishop of Helena (now 90)
  • JOBST, John: Vicar Apostolic of Kimberley in Western Australia (now 92)
  • LANDRIAULT, Jacques: Auxiliary Bishop of Alexandria in Ontario, later Bishop of Hearst (now 90)
  • LEONARDO, Felice: Bishop of Telese o Cerreto Sannita (now 97)
  • LEULIET, Géry-Jacques-Charles: Bishop of Amiens (now 102)
  • LIMA DOS SANTOS, Caetano Antônio: Bishop if Ilhéus (now 95) (renounced the priesthood in 1970)
  • LIRA, Pedro Reginaldo: Bishop of San Francisco (now 96)
  • LOURDUSAMY, Duraisamy Simon: Auxiliary Bishop of Bangalore, later Coadjutor Archbishop of Bangalore (now 88)
  • MALBOIS, Albert-Georges-Yves: Auxiliary Bishop of Versailles (now 96)
  • MATHIAS, Alphonsus: Bishop of Chikmagalur (now 84)
  • MCKEON, Myles: Auxiliary Bishop of Perth (now 93)
  • MCNAUGHTON, William John: Bishop of Incheon (now 85)
  • NGANGA A NDZANDO, Louis: Auxiliary Bishop of Lisala, later Bishop of Lisala (now 89)
  • NICOLOSI, Salvatore: Bishop of Lipari (now 90)
  • NKALANGA, Placidus Gervasius: Auxiliary Bishop of Bukoba (now 93)
  • NOËL, Laurent: Auxiliary Bishop of Québec (now 92)
  • ODONGO, James: Auxiliary Bishop of Tororo (now 81)
  • PADILLA LOZANO, José Guadalupe: Bishop of Veracruz (now 91)
  • PEARCE, George Hamilton: Vicar Apostolic of Archipelago of the Navigators (now 91)
  • PIMIENTO RODRIGUEZ, José de Jesús: Bishop of Montería, later of Garzón-Neiva (now 93)
  • PIÑERA CARVALLO, Bernardino: Bishop of Temuco (now 96)
  • PIRES, José Maria: Bishop of Aracuaí, later Archbishop of Paraíba (now 93)
  • PLOURDE, Joseph-Aurèle: Auxiliary Bishop of Alexandria in Ontario (now 97)
  • QUINTERO ARCE, Carlos: Bishop of Ciudad Valles (now 92)
  • RAMALHO DE ALARCÓN SANTIAGO, José Mauro: Bishop of Iguatú (now 87)
  • RAMÍREZ SALAVERRÍA, Antonio José: Bishop of Maturín (now 94)
  • RAMOUSSE, Yves-Georges-René: Vicar Apostolic of Phnom-Penh (now 84)
  • RIBEIRO DE OLIVEIRA, Antônio: Auxiliary Bishop of Goiânia (now 86)
  • SAHAGÚN DE LA PARRA, José de Jesús: Bishop of Tula (now 90)
  • SANA, André: Bishop of Aqra (Chaldean) (now 91)
  • SAPELAK, Andrés: Auxiliary Bishop of the Faithful of the Eastern Rites of Argentina (now 92)
  • SEPÚLVEDA RUIZ-VELASCO, José Trinidad: Bishop of Tuxtla Gutiérrez (now 91)
  • SFEIR, Nasrallah Pierre: Auxiliary Bishop of Antiochia (Maronite) (now 92)
  • SOL, Andreas Peter Cornelius: Coadjutor Bishop of Amboina, later Bishop of Amboina (now 96)
  • SZYMANSKI RAMÍREZ, Arturo Antonio: Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of San Andrés Tuxtla (now 90)
  • TATO LOSADA, Eloy: Vicar Apostolic of San Jorge (now 88)
  • THOHEY MAHN-GABY, Gabriel: Coadjutor Archbishop of Rangoon (now 84)
  • TSIAHOANA, Albert Joseph: Auxiliary Bishop of Diego-Suárez (now 84)
  • VAN CAUWELAERT, Jan: Bishop of Inongo (now 98)
  • VERSTRAETE, Daniel Alphonse Omer: Prefect of Western Transvaal (now 87)
  • VILNET, Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie: Bishop of Saint-Dié (now 90)
  • WARREN, Douglas Joseph: Auxiliary Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes (now 93)
  • YOUN KONG-HI, Victorinus: Bishop of Suwon (now 87)
  • ZARZA BERNAL, Anselmo: Bishop of Linares (now 96)

Two of the names in the list are printed in italics. They indicate the bishops who either renounced their priesthood or left the Church altogether, sometime after the Council. So, while they participated as Council Fathers, we should not expect them to make an appearance in Rome in October.

Many others may also not be able to make it, considering their advanced age. The youngest, Cardinal Arinze, is 79, many are in their in 80s and even 90s, and there are even three centenarians. Among those staying at home, I expect, is Bishop Bluyssen, the only living Dutch bishop who attended the Council – although, as the story goes, he was often left at home “to mind the store” as Bishop Bekkers attended the sessions in Rome.

It will be interesting to see at least some of the former movers and shakers of the Church launch a new effort of evangelisation and catechesis across the world.