Servant of God
The Most Reverend

Louis de Goesbriand
Bishop of Burlington
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
SeeDiocese of Burlington
In officeOctober 30, 1853
November 3, 1899
Predecessornone
SuccessorJohn Stephen Michaud
Orders
OrdinationJuly 13, 1840
by Joseph Rosati
ConsecrationOctober 30, 1853
by Gaetano Bedini
Personal details
Born(1816-08-04)August 4, 1816
Saint-Urbain, Finistère, France
DiedNovember 3, 1899(1899-11-03) (aged 83)
Burlington, Vermont, United States
EducationSeminary of Saint-Sulpice
SignatureLouis de Goesbriand's signature

Louis Joseph Marie Théodore de Goesbriand (August 4, 1816 – November 3, 1899) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1853 until his death in 1899.

Biography

Early life

Louis de Goesbriand was born on August 4, 1815, in Saint-Urbain, Finistère, in France to a wealthy family.[1] After deciding to enter the priesthood, he studied at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.[2] At some point, he was recruited to come to the United States.

De Goesbriand was ordained to the priesthood in Paris for the Diocese of Saint Paul by Bishop Joseph Rosati on July 13, 1840.[3]

After arriving in the United States, de Goesbriand did pastoral work for the Diocese of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1840 to 1847. He was then appointed vicar general for the Diocese of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio, serving there until 1854. [4][2]

Priesthood

On July 29, 1853, de Goesbriand was appointed as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Burlington by Pope Pius IX.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on October 30, 1853, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City from Archbishop Gaetano Bedini, with Bishops John McCloskey and Louis Rappe serving as co-consecrators.[3][5] De Goesbriand began his new diocese with five priests, ten churches, and about 20,000 parishioners.[6]

Bishop of Burlington

In January 1855, de Goesbriand traveled to Europe to recruit priests from Ireland and France to serve to Vermont. He held the first diocesan synod in Vermont in October 1855.[6] He also attended the Plenary Councils of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1866 and 1884, and the First Vatican Council in Rome from 1869 to 1870.[2] In 1893, De Goesbriand delegated administration of the diocese to Coadjutor Bishop John Michaud.[4] He spent his entire family fortune constructing churches and orphanages and assisting the poor, dying with only four dollars left to his name.[1]

Between 1891 and 1897, de Goesbriand translated several works of Reverend Pierre Chaignon from French to English, including Meditations for the Use of the Secular Clergy and The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated.

Death and legacy

Louis De Goesbriand died on November 3, 1899, at St. Joseph's Orphan Home in Burlington[7] at age 83, then the oldest bishop in the United States.[4] He is buried at Resurrection Park in South Burlington, Vermont.[2]

The diocese had least 50 priests and 30 new parishes when de Goesbriand died.[4] In the 1920s, De Goesbriand Memorial Hospital in Burlington was created in his name.[8] In 2019, the diocese opened a cause for canonization for de Goesbriand. As of yet, there are no miracles attributed to him, a requirement for sainthood.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Vermont's 10th bishop opens sainthood cause for diocese's first bishop". National Catholic Reporter. April 17, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Most Reverend Louis Joseph Mary Theodore De Goesbriand, First Bishop of Burlington". Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
  3. 1 2 3 "Bishop Louis Joseph Mary Theodore De Goesbriand". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "A Brief History of the Diocese BurlingtonN". Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
  5. ↑ See: James Roosevelt Bayley#First Bishop of Newark.
  6. 1 2 "Burlington". Catholic Encyclopedia.
  7. ↑ "Bishop De Goesbriand Dead; Head of the Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vt., Passes Away". The New York Times. November 4, 1899. p. 7. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "De Goesbriand Memorial Hospital (1923-1967) | Saint Michael's College Archives & Special Collections". www.smclibrary.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
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