Roman Catholic Cardinal. Born in the hamlet of L'Amiteuse in Wattignies near Lille, his only brother, Eliane, and two sisters, Paule and Blanche, died at a young age. Entering the minor seminary of Haubourdin in October 1940, he moved to the Grand Seminary of Lille the following year and after rendering military service between 1945 and 1946, he completed his studies at the Catholic faculties of Lille and then in Rome, where he frequented the Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a doctorate in theology in 1951. Furthering his studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Biblical Institute of Jerusalem, he was ordained priest on June 29, 1947 in Rome. Chaplain of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi of the latter city, after his ordination and completion of studies, he lectured Holy Scripture at the Grand Seminary of Lille and was also responsible for the formation of young priests for the local diocese, which he went on to serve as vicar general, judge at the officialité, member of the episcopal commission of the clergy and archdeacon of Roubaix, being also in charge of the chaplains of public schools. Elected auxiliary for the diocese of Dijon, he received his episcopal consecration with the titular see of Ippona on July 3, 1971 at the cathedral of Lille. Appointed bishop of Dijon in 1974, he was promoted to the metropolitan see of Lyon, becoming thus Primate of the Gauls, on October 29, 1981, succeeding Cardinal Alexandre Renard. Elected vice-president of the Episcopal Conference of France serving from 1981 until 1987, when he was elected its president, a position which he held until 1990, he was named prelate of the Mission de France on April 23, 1982. Pope John Paul II created him cardinal priest with the title of Ss. Trinità al Monte Pincio in the consistory of May 25, 1985. Member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, he was appointed officer of the Légion d'honneur in 1986. Resigning the named prelature of the Mission de France on October 1, 1988, he was elected for one year, president of the Council of the Christian Churches of France on November 17, 1987. Known for his advocacy of the disadvantaged and his frequent appearance on television talk shows to speak out on their behalf, a painful cancer of the vocal cords silenced him for several months and left his voice permanently weakened. Receiving the first prize of the Droits de l'Homme in 1988 and the Humanitarian Action Prize of the Jewish association B'nai B'rith in 1991, he was elected member of the Academie Française on June 1, 1993. Decourtray died in Bron on September 16, 1994 of a cerebral hemorrhage, while hospitalized at the Hôpital Louis Pradel shortly after collapsing in his apartment and falling into a deep coma from which he never emerged. Having been in constant dialogue with the Jewish community, he requested that a stone from Jerusalem would be placed inside his coffin upon his death. Buried in the crypt of Saint-Jean's metropolitan and primatial cathedral of Lyon, his liberal stance on social issues made of him one of the most popular prelates in post-Vatican II France. A memorial garden carrying his name was inaugurated on Mount Zion outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in the year 2000.