Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Poponguine, Hyacinthe Thiandoum was the son of a catechist who earned his living as a fisherman during summer and millet and groundnut cultivator during winter. Raised in a milieu in which the Muslims were the majority, one of his brothers was a Muslim and some of his nephews, imams. Entering the Regional Seminary of Dakar, he was sent to Rome to Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a licentiate in philosophy and sociology. Ordained priest on April 18, 1949 in Dakar by Msgr. Marcel François Lefèbvre, he was soon put in charge of the local Catholic Action and named pastor of the cathedral and eventually vicar general of the archdiocese. Elected archbishop of Dakar at forty one years of age by Pope John XXIII, he received his episcopal consecration on May 20, 1961. President of the Episcopal Conference of Sénégal-Mauritania and vice-president of the Episcopal Pan-African Symposium, Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest in the consistory of May 24, 1976 with the title of Santa Maria del Popolo, becoming thus Sénégal's first Cardinal. A man whose deep moral authority went beyond the Christian community, holding in fact excellent relations with the Muslim community, Thiandoum retired from the pastoral government of his see on June 2, 2000. Passing away at the Geriatric Hospital Saint Thomas de Villeneuve in Aix-en-Provence, France, of lung cancer complications, his body lies interred inside the metropolitan cathedral of Dakar.
Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Poponguine, Hyacinthe Thiandoum was the son of a catechist who earned his living as a fisherman during summer and millet and groundnut cultivator during winter. Raised in a milieu in which the Muslims were the majority, one of his brothers was a Muslim and some of his nephews, imams. Entering the Regional Seminary of Dakar, he was sent to Rome to Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a licentiate in philosophy and sociology. Ordained priest on April 18, 1949 in Dakar by Msgr. Marcel François Lefèbvre, he was soon put in charge of the local Catholic Action and named pastor of the cathedral and eventually vicar general of the archdiocese. Elected archbishop of Dakar at forty one years of age by Pope John XXIII, he received his episcopal consecration on May 20, 1961. President of the Episcopal Conference of Sénégal-Mauritania and vice-president of the Episcopal Pan-African Symposium, Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest in the consistory of May 24, 1976 with the title of Santa Maria del Popolo, becoming thus Sénégal's first Cardinal. A man whose deep moral authority went beyond the Christian community, holding in fact excellent relations with the Muslim community, Thiandoum retired from the pastoral government of his see on June 2, 2000. Passing away at the Geriatric Hospital Saint Thomas de Villeneuve in Aix-en-Provence, France, of lung cancer complications, his body lies interred inside the metropolitan cathedral of Dakar.
Bio by: Eman Bonnici
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Records on Ancestry
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