Panafieu was born on 26 January 1931 in Châtellerault and ordained on 22 April 1956 for the archdiocese of Albi,[1] where he served as a vicar and chaplain of the lyceum La Pérouse. He was also the chaplain of the university parish, chaplain of students in Toulouse, 1967–1970 and secretary general of the presbyteral council from 1973 to 1974.
He was appointed titular bishop of Thibilis and auxiliary bishop of Annecy on 18 April 1974 and consecrated bishop on 9 June by Claude Dupuy, Archbishop of Albi. He was named Archbishop of Aix by Pope Paul VI on 30 November 1978. He was named coadjutor bishop of Marseille on 24 August 1994 and became archbishop there on 22 April 1995. He served as the first metropolitan archbishop when Marseille was elevated to that status on 16 December 2002.[2]
In the Episcopal Conference of France he served as President of the Episcopal Committee for Inter-religious Relations and New Religious Trends, President of the Secretariat for Religious Relations with Islam, and a member of the Episcopal Commission for the Universal Mission of the Church.[1]
