Emmanuel Célestin Suhard

Emmanuel Célestin Suhard (April 5, 1874 – May 30, 1949) was a French Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paris from 1940 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935.

Biography

Emmanuel Suhard was born in Brains-sur-les-Marches, Mayenne, to Emmanuel Suhard (d. May 1874) and his wife Jeanne Marsollier. Baptized by Abbé Lambert on the very day of his birth, he received his first Communion on June 1, 1884, and was confirmed in 1885. Although Suhard's pastor did not think he would be a suitable priest, Suhard entered the minor (October 1888) and major seminaries (October 6, 1892) in Laval. He then went to Rome to study at the Pontifical French Seminary and the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he received a gold medal for his grades. From the Gregorian he also obtained doctorates in philosophy and theology, and a licentiate in canon law. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 18, 1897 in the private chapel of Cardinal Vicar Lucido Parocchi, and then finished his studies in 1899.