François-Wolff Ligondé
François-Wolff Ligondé | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Port-au-Prince | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Port-au-Prince |
| See | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption |
| Appointed | 20 August 1966 |
| Retired | 1 March 2008 |
| Predecessor | François-Marie-Joseph Poirier |
| Successor | Joseph Serge Miot |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 11 July 1954 by Rémy Jérôme Augustin |
| Consecration | 28 October 1966 by Antonio Samorè |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 January 1928 |
| Died | 8 April 2013 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | Haitian |
François-Wolff Ligondé (January 17, 1928 in Les Cayes – April 8, 2013) was a Haitian Roman Catholic archbishop of the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Ligondé was ordained to the priesthood on 11 July 1954, and was appointed Archbishop of Port-au-Prince on 20 August 1966 and retired on 1 March 2008.
Ligondé was a close ally of President Jean-Claude Duvalier and the uncle of his wife Michèle Bennett. He presided over their "opulent cathedral wedding" in 1980 which was broadcast live to the nation.
In January 1991, Ligondé reportedly "fled into the night clad only in undershorts" when mobs attacked the Port-au-Prince Cathedral during a coup attempt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He had previously been a critic of Aristide, comparing the government to a Bolshevik dictatorship. This statement was "seen as giving the green light for the coup". Ligondé and other church leaders subsequently went into hiding. Although his pastoral role as archbishop ended after this incident, he remained archbishop until his retirement in 2008.
Ligondé died on 8 April 2013. His funeral at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Turgeau was attended by then-president Michel Martelly and other notables.