Born in
Bordeaux, France, Tauran studied at
Pontifical Gregorian University in
Rome, Italy, earning
licentiates in philosophy and
theology and a
doctorate in canon law. He also studied at
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and
Catholic University of Toulouse, France. He was
ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop
Marius Maziers on 20 September 1969 and worked as a
curate in the
Archdiocese of Bordeaux before entering the
Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975. He was secretary of the
nunciatures to the Dominican Republic (1975–1978) and to Lebanon (1979–1983). Tauran became an official of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in 1983, and then participated in special missions in Haiti (1984), and
Beirut and
Damascus (1986). He was also a member of the Vatican delegation to the meetings of the
Conference on European Security and Cooperation,
Conference on Disarmament in
Stockholm, and Cultural Forum in
Budapest and later
Vienna.
Secretary for Relations with States On 1 December 1990, Tauran was appointed
Secretary for Relations with States of the
Secretariat of State and
Titular Archbishop of
Thélepte by
Pope John Paul II. He received his
episcopal consecration on 6 January 1991 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops
Giovanni Battista Re and
Justin Francis Rigali serving as
co-consecrators, in
St. Peter's Basilica. As Secretary, Tauran essentially served as the
foreign minister of the Vatican. In regards to the
Iraqi conflict, he once emphasized the importance of
dialogue and the United Nations, and said that "a unilateral war of aggression would constitute a crime against peace and against the
Geneva Conventions".
Cardinal-Deacon, Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church Tauran was created
Cardinal-Deacon of
Sant'Apollinare alle Terme by Pope John Paul II in the
consistory of 21 October 2003. On the following 24 November, he was named
Archivist and Librarian of the
Holy Roman Church, overseeing the
Vatican Secret Archives and
Vatican Library. In late 2003, Tauran drew attention to the "
second-class" treatment of non-Muslims in "many
Muslim countries", especially Saudi Arabia. As the Cardinal Protodeacon (senior Cardinal-Deacon) at the 2013 conclave, he announced the election of the new pope on 13 March 2013 and
bestowed the pallium on Pope Francis at his
papal inauguration on 19 March. In his role as Protodeacon for the
2013 conclave Tauran said that "people asked 'How do you prepare yourself for the
Habemus Papam?' I'd say 'No, I'm preparing myself for the conclave.' The conclave is not like the parliament with a campaign. It's a spiritual meeting. You have to remember the conclave is a liturgical celebration particularly from the morning to the evening. It's a spiritual experience. It was very deep for me. It's the manifestation of the singularity of the Catholic Church. You can feel the richness of the life of the church and how the positive aspects are greater than the negative ones". Cardinal Tauran exercised his option to be promoted to cardinal-priest and accordingly on 12 June 2014, Pope Francis elevated Tauran to the title of Cardinal-Priest. He was succeeded as Protodeacon by Cardinal
Renato Raffaele Martino. In addition to his duties as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, he was a member of the Secretariat of State (Second Section); the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches; the
Congregation for Bishops; the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; the
Pontifical Council for Culture; the
Apostolic Signatura; the
Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See; the
Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, and the Cardinal Commission for the Supervision of the
Institute for Works of Religion (IOR). Tauran was a friend of
Anglican John Andrew (1931–2014), former
rector of
St. Thomas Church in New York City. For the
fiftieth anniversary of Andrew's
ordination in late June 2007, Tauran served as a guest preacher. He was also present at Greenacre's Memorial Requiem at Chichester Cathedral on 23 September 2011. In an April 2012 message marking the upcoming Buddhist celebration of
Vesakh, a feast commemorating the key events in the life of the
Buddha, Tauran said that "Young people are an asset for all societies" and called for education about varieties of religious practice in order to allow them to "advance together as responsible human beings and to be ready to join hands with those of other religions to resolve conflicts and to promote friendship, justice, peace and authentic human development". Tauran described his role as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, saying: In June 2013, Pope Francis named Tauran a member of the five-person
Pontifical Commission investigating the
Institute for the Works of Religion.
Camerlengo Pope Francis named Tauran to replace Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone as
Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church on 20 December 2014. Tauran was sworn in as Camerlengo, in the presence of Pope Francis, on 9 March 2015.
Death Tauran showed evidence of Parkinson's disease as early as 2003, but his condition had stabilized sufficiently by 2007 for him to take on the Pontifical Council presidency. Tauran died aged 75 on 5 July 2018 in
Hartford,
Connecticut, where he had been hospitalized for treatment of Parkinson's. His remains were transferred to Rome where he received the customary funeral rites of a cardinal of the
Roman Curia. ==Views==