Franc Rode CM (or Rodé;[1] born 23 September 1934) is a Slovenian cardinal of the Catholic Church.

He entered the Congregation of the Mission, more commonly known as the Vincentians or Lazarists, in Buenos Aires in 1952, making his perpetual profession in 1957.

Rode studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and at the Catholic Institute of Paris, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology in 1968.

In 1978, Rode was made consultor of the Secretariat for Non-Believers in the Roman Curia, being transferred to that dicastery in 1981 and rising to become its Undersecretary in 1982.

His motto is a phrase in Old Slovene, "Stati inu obstati" (To Exist and Persevere / To Stand and Withstand), taken from the Catechism of Primož Trubar, which is also inscribed on the Slovenian 1 euro coin.

[3] Pope Benedict XVI later created Rode Cardinal-Deacon of S. Francesco Saverio alla Garbatella in the consistory of 24 March 2006.