Jean Jadot was born in
Brussels. He was born to a well-known
aristocratic family, and his father,
Lambert, was a noted
electrical engineer who worked around the world, including
China and
Congo. In 1926, he entered the
Catholic University of Leuven, from where he obtained his
doctorate in philosophy magna cum laude in 1930. His
thesis was on the work of
Alfred Edward Taylor. Despite his father's opposition, Jadot then entered the
seminary of the
Archdiocese of Mechelen, and was
ordained to the
priesthood by
Jozef-Ernest Cardinal van Roey on 11 February 1934. On 28 February 1968,
Pope Paul VI appointed him
titular archbishop of
Zuri and
apostolic delegate to
Thailand,
Laos, and the
Malay Peninsula (Malaysia and Singapore). He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal
Leo Joseph Suenens on 1 May 1968. He was appointed
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to
Thailand on 28 August 1969. On 15 May 1971, Jadot was appointed
apostolic pro-nuncio to
Gabon and
Cameroon as well as apostolic delegate to
Equatorial Guinea. On 23 May 1973 he was appointed the apostolic delegate to the United States. Jadot was considered a progressive leader of the
Roman Curia, and was at times polarizing in the statements he made and decisions he took. Jadot was seen favorably by the Vatican under
Pope Paul VI, who rejected Jadot's initial offer to resign as apostolic delegate. On 27 June 1980,
Pope John Paul II appointed him the Pro-President of the Secretariat of Non-Christians, a position normally held by a cardinal. On 19 June 1982, Jadot ordained Robert Francis Prevost for the Augustinians in Rome. Prevost was later elected pope on 8 May 2025, becoming
Pope Leo XIV. Jadot's progressive views were the main obstacle to his being made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, who did not include him when he created cardinals in February 1983. Pope John Paul accepted his resignation on 8 April 1984, a few months before his 75th birthday when he would have been required to submit his resignation. Jadot died in
Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Belgium, on 21 January 2009. ==References==