 For his efforts to save Jews during World War II he was posthumously awarded the title "Righteous among the Nations" by Yad Vashem in 1981.He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave (at which he was considered "papabile"), which selected Pope Pius XII, and participated again in the 1958 conclave, which resulted in the election of Pope John XXIII.Living long enough to attend only the first three sessions of the Second Vatican Council, Gerlier was also a cardinal elector in the conclave of 1963 that chose Pope Paul VI.