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| | Location: Home » Archbishop » General » Louis William Dubourg: Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, Bishop of Montauban, and Archbishop of Besancon, 1766-1833 | December 3, 2008 |
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 | | | | | Louis William Dubourg: Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, Bishop of Montauban, and Archbishop of Besancon, 1766-1833 |  | Author: Annabelle M. Melville
Publisher: Loyola Pr
Category: Book
Buy New: $51.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (1 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3799413
Media: Hardcover
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.7
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 3
ISBN: 9996432122
Dewey Decimal Number: 282.0924
EAN: 9789996432125
ASIN: 9996432122
Publication Date: November 1986
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
A Thorough And Enjoyable Work September 17, 2006
"Louis William DuBourg" is the a well researched and thorough biography of a most significant figure in the Catholic Church in the early United States and in his French homeland. It also provides the reader with an insight into the tempestuous world of DuBourg's day.
DuBourg's life spanned centuries and continents. Born in Saint-Domingue, the current Cap Hatien, Haiti in 1766, he moved to his family's home in Bourdeaux, France at the age of two. Throughout his life efforts to recover lost family properties at Saint-Dominigue would remain an interest and distraction. A member of a large and prosperous family, Louis sought an ecclesiastical career by enrolling at Saint-Sulpice, the most prestigious French seminary of his day. He was ordained in 1790, in a France torn by Revolution. As the years of turmoil ravaged the Gallic Church, DuBourg and many other clergy were forced to seek asylum in other countries. Fleeing to Spain, DuBourg remained there until the outbreak of war between France and Spain in 1793 made Emigres unwelcome guests and sent them off again. For DuBourg, this meant the fledging United States where this scholar found a field of service in Baltimore and Georgetown. Serving as President of Georgetown College (now University) and St. Mary's College in Baltimore, DuBourg made important contributions to the growth of both the Church and education in his adopted nation. While in Maryland, DuBourg played a significant role in the spiritual direction of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and her establishment at Emmitsburg, Maryland.
When the American Episcopate expanded in the early 19th century, the primary candidates were French Revolutionary Exiles. Dubourg was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in 1812, although his actual elevation to the post of bishop was deferred for three years due to the kidnapping of Pope Pius VII by Napoleon.
Upon arrival at his new post, DuBourg found an unreceptive field in New Orleans so he chose to establish his residence in the much smaller community of St. Louis for three years. Although conditions in St. Louis were primitive, DuBourg's contacts and travels in Europe and elsewhere were to yield an impressive crop of recruits from religious orders which continue to serve the Church in Missouri to this day. He established St. Louis College which is now St. Louis University, a premier educational institution of the Middle West. While in St. Louis DuBourg was a spiritual guide to another saint, this time St. Philippine Duchesne, whom he recruited to serve in Florissant, Missouri.
Finding conditions more suitable, DuBourg relocated to New Orleans where he worked, with inconsistent success until 1826 when he was appointed Bishop of Montauban, France. During his service in New Orleans he had the distinction of presiding over prayers for victory in the Battle of New Orleans and welcoming Gen. Andrew Jackson to the Cathedral for the Thanksgiving Service.
Returning to France, DuBourg served as Bishop of Montauban from 1826-33, succeeding a former Bishop of Boston. In the last year of his life he served briefly as Archbishop of Bescacon in Franche-Comte until his death in 1833.
DuBourg is a representative of a generation of clerics who crossed the Atlantic as their need and opportunities shifted. Driven out of France by Revolution, they contributed to the growth of a new country and its religious tradition. In so doing, they obtained experience which matured their vocations so that, when France called them to rebuild the Church that had been ravaged by the Revolution which drove them into exile, they were ready.
DuBourg had the vision thing in spades, but his vision was often hampered by his lack of practicality. Fortunately he attracted men and women who could turn his dreams into reality. Although he regarded himself as a failure when he left New Orleans, DuBourg had succeeded in America more than he could have realized.
This book is long and detailed, but never boring. I read it to obtain an in depth understanding of DuBourg for a presentation which I am scheduled to make. This book is a bit extensive for the casual reader. For one with an interest in the early history of St. Louis or New Orleans, it is a must. For the student of the French Revolution and its people's response to it as well as the influence they had on the world, it is a valuable work. I enjoyed it. If you are as interested in the topics outlined above as I am, so will you.
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