Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan (born 30 August 1960) is a French-born Estonian Catholic prelate who has served as the first Bishop of Tallinn since 2024, after serving as Apostolic Administrator of Estonia from 2005 to 2024. He has lived and worked in Estonia since 1996 and became an Estonian citizen in 2005.
He then practised his ministry as a chaplain at schools and student residences, first in Madrid in 1988–89, then in Paris from 1989 to 1993. He also assisted with parish duties and taught philosophy from 1989 to 1995.[2]
In 1996, he took up an assignment in Estonia, where his knowledge of Russian and English, which are widely spoken there, made him an attractive candidate.[5] He was appointed vicar general of the Apostolic Administration of Estonia,[2] then the highest resident Church official in the country, as the apostolic administrator was Archbishop Justo Mullor García, who held several appointments as nuncio, including nuncio to Estonia, but lived in Lithuania.[citation needed] From 1999 to 2001 Jourdan served also as a parochial vicar of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Tallinn.[6]
Entrance at opening Mass of the Synod on synodality in Tallinn, 17 October 2021
He received his episcopal consecration in Tallinn on 10 September 2005 from Archbishop Peter Stephan Zurbriggen, Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic states. Archbishop Tadevuš Kandrusievič of Moscow and Bishop Javier Echevarría, prelate of Opus Dei, were the co-consecrators.[6] Because the Catholic community has no church of sufficient size, the ceremony took place in the Church of St. Olaf, loaned by the local Baptist church for the occasion, and acknowledged by Jourdan as a gesture of ecumenical solidarity typical of Estonia's Christian communities.[3]
In 2019, when Jourdan was asked how the Church should respond to secularization, which is more advanced in Estonia than elsewhere in Europe, he said:[8]
I don't agree with an idea present in some Church circles that due to the growing secularization living as a Christian in the society becomes virtually impossible, and Christians should retire in small communities.... A dedicated presence in the world is necessary, based on a realistic, but also hopeful vision of the society, even of a secularized society....
On 26 September 2024, he was appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Tallinn, as the Apostolic Administration of Estonia was raised from an apostolic administration to a diocese.[9]
He became an Estonian citizen on 22 December 2005,[4][10] giving up his French citizenship.[1] He was awarded the French Legion of Honor with the rank of chevalier on 11 July 2008.[11]
Estonia awarded him the Order of the White Star Third Class on 22 February 2006.[12] On 5 October 2008, the council of the Lutheran Cathedral of St. Mary in Tallinn presented Jourdan with its annual Mary Medal in recognition of his ecumenical activities and promotion of Christian values at conferences and in the press.[13] On 2 February 2021, the Ministry of the Interior awarded him its silver medal for his work on behalf of Church-state relations and for fostering ecumenical cooperation through the Estonian Council of Churches.[14]
↑ Though his episcopal appointment received papal consent in March, it was announced along with more than a dozen others on 1 April, the day before the death of John Paul II.
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References
1 2 "Piiskop Jourdan: inimesed hakkavad Jumala juurde tagasi pöörduma"[Bishop Jourdan: People are beginning to return to God]. Postimees (Interview) (in Estonian). Interviewed by Sigrid Kõiv. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2024. I wanted to become an Estonian citizen.... Honestly I was not sorry to give up my French citizenship. I was afraid that my father, who had been a French officer, might find it difficult to come to terms with the idea that his son was no longer a French citizen. In fact, he understood my decision very well.
↑ "A Doctorate in Hope". Priestly Society of the Holy Cross (Interview). Interviewed by Jorge Gutiérrez. 23 February 2015. Religión en Libertad. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
↑ "Eesti Vabariigi teenetemärkide saajad"[Recipients of Decorations of the Republic of Estonia]. Ajaleht Eesti Kirik (in Estonian). 22 February 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
Koff, Indrek (2020). Argipäeva imed. Piiskop Philippe Jourdani lugu[Everyday Miracles. Bishop Philippe Jourdan's story] (in Estonian). Gallus. ISBN9789949668366.
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