Philippe Jourdan

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.

Biography Philippe Jourdan was born in Dax, France, on 30 August 1960. and turning down a job offer from IBM, he studied for the priesthood. He obtained his doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in 1987. He was ordained a priest of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei by Cardinal Bernard Francis Law on 20 August 1988.

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. becoming the second Catholic bishop in Estonia since the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

He has been vice president of the Estonian Council of Churches since March 2004 and a bishop delegate to the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) since 2010.

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.

He became an Estonian citizen on 22 December 2005, giving up his French citizenship. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor with the rank of on 11 July 2008.

Estonia awarded him the Order of the White Star Third Class on 22 February 2006. 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. 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.