JADOT, JEAN

Belgian prelate, papal diplomat; b. Brussels, Nov. 23, 1909; the eldest of eight children of Lambert and Gabrielle (Flanneau) Jadot. Educated in London, Brussels, Paris, and Louvain, Jadot was ordained a priest for the diocese of Malines on Feb. 11, 1934 and was assigned to the large urban parish of St. Gertrude in Etterbeek.

During World War II, Jadot dedicated his efforts to the pastoral care of youth as chaplain to an independent Catholic youth organization. In March 1945 he became a military chaplain at the state infantry school and later at the Royal Military School. In 1952 Jadot became chief chaplain for the 25,000 public forces in the Belgian Congo. In 1960 he was called back to his native Belgium to become the national director of the Pontifical Missionary Works. This missionary role gave him personal exposure to the Church throughout the world, particularly in Asia, which served him well when in 1967 he was appointed to the reorganized Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (formerly the Congregation for Propagation of the Faith).

Diplomatic Career. Pope Paul VI brought Jadot, at the age of 59, into the diplomatic service of the Holy See. On May 1, 1968, Jadot was ordained a bishop in his parish church of Chant d'Oiseau in Brussels and was named titular archbishop of Zuri. His first diplomatic appointment was as apostolic delegate to Thailand, which included his representing the Holy See in Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore. His zest for interdisciplinary dialogue as a university student was rekindled by the challenge to engage Buddhist and other non-Christian religious communities.

After three years in Asia, Pope Paul VI appointed him pro-nuncio to Cameroon in West Africa and at the same time he served as pro-nuncio to Gabon and as apostolic delegate to Equatorial Guinea.

In the spring of 1973, Pope Paul VI appointed him apostolic delegate in the United States. His views on the need to prepare for a Church with declining numbers of priests, on racism, and on the role of Catholic laity in society received wide attention. Although formal diplomatic relations had not yet been established between the Holy See and the American government, Jadot's duties in Washington included his serving on behalf of the Vatican as permanent observer to the Organization of American States. In 1979 Jadot accompanied Pope John Paul II on his first pastoral visit to the United States. In June 1980, John Paul II named him pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians. This appointment to the Roman Curia crowned Jean Jadot's more than fifty years of service to the Church. Upon retirement he returned to Brussels.

Bibliography: m. dellicour, Un Prêtre Diplomate, 50 Ans au service de l'Eglise. Entretiens avec Michel Dellicour (Paris and Louvain-la-Neuve 1992). For extracts of Jadot's letters and talks, see l. bouyer, Dom Lambert Beauduin: un homme de l'Eglise (Tournai 1964). g. a. kelly, The Battle for the American Church (Garden City NY 1979). s. quitslund, Beauduin: A Prophet Vindicated (New York 1973).

[l. purcell]