Born in Bordeaux, Jean-Louis Tauran studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University (from where he earned licentiates in philosophy and theology, and in 1973 his Doctorate in Canon Law) and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, and the Catholic Institute in Toulouse. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Marius Maziers on September 20, 1969, and worked as a curate in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux before entering the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975.

He was secretary of the nunciatures to the Dominican Republic (1975-1978) and to Lebanon (1979-1983). Tauran became an official of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in 1983, and then participated in special missions in Haiti (1984), and Beirut and Damascus (1986). He was also a member of the Vatican delegation to the meetings of the Conference on European Security and Cooperation, Conference on Disarmament in Stockholm, and Cultural Forum in Budapest and later Vienna.

On December 1, 1990, Tauran was appointed Secretary for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State and Titular Archbishop of Thelepte by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1991 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Justin Rigali serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. As Secretary, Tauran essentially served as the foreign minister of the Vatican.

He was created Cardinal Deacon of S. Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine by John Paul in the consistory of October 21, 2003. On the following November 24, he was named Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, overseeing the Vatican Secret Archives and Vatican Library. Representing the Pope, Tauran attended the March 2005 dedication of the new Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. That same year, he was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI, who later appointed Tauran as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on June 25, 2007. The Cardinal is scheduled to fully assume this position on September 1 of this year. (From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Tauran)