Born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie (France) in 1952, graduated in Sciences Politiques (Toulouse 1973), French speaker (speaks German, English, Italian and Spanish), after working professionally in the banking sector in Germany, Jean Laffitte studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II, where he graduated in Moral Theology before earning a doctorate.
Member of the Emmanuel Community, ordained priest in 1989 in Autun (France), from 1990 to 1994, he was the Superior of the chaplains of Paray-le-Monial and pastor of two rural parishes.
In 1994 he defended a doctoral thesis directed by Prof. Stanislaw Grygiel on the topic: Le Pardon transfiguré. Contribution à une antropologie théologique, published in several languages. He became the assistant of Prof. Carlo Caffarra in 1994 and then, in 1995, of Prof. Angelo Scola. Subsequently, he taught Special Ethics, general Ethics and the Spirituality of marriage and family,at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II.
In 2003 Pope John Paul II appointed him Consultant of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Vice-President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and on 22 October 2009 Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Mons. Laffitte, Titular Bishop of Entrevaux, was ordained Bishop in the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter on December 12, 2009 by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State. In 2011 he was appointed Consultant of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.
He is the author of
numerous publications, including most recently
La scelta della famiglia (translated in several languages) and
Le Christ destin de l’homme.
