Jules Jeanmard
Jules Jeanmard | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana titular bishop of Bareta | |
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| See | Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana |
| In office | 1918–1956 |
| Successor | Maurice Schexnayder |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 10, 1903 |
| Consecration | December 8, 1919 by Giovanni Bonzano |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 15, 1879 |
| Died | February 23, 1957 (aged 77) Lake Charles, Louisiana, US |
| Buried | St. John Cathedral |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Jules and Frances Maria (née Brown) Jeanmard |
| Education | St. Joseph Seminary Our Lady of Holy Cross College |
| Coat of arms | |
Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (August 15, 1879 – February 23, 1957), was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1918 to 1956.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Jules Jeanmard was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, to Jules and Frances Maria (née Brown) Jeanmard.[1] He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Bernard Parish in Breaux Bridge.[2] He then attended St. Joseph Seminary in Gessen, Louisiana and Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans.[2] He studied for the priesthood at St. Louis Diocesan Seminary in New Orleans and at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.[1]
Priestly ministry
[edit]Jeanmard was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on June 10, 1903.[3] His first assignment was as a curate at St. Louis Cathedral, where he served through the yellow fever epidemic of 1905.[2] He served as secretary to Archbishop James Blenk from 1906 to 1914, and chancellor of the archdiocese from 1914 to 1917.[1] He also served as vicar general for spiritual affairs of the archdiocese.[2] Following the death of Archbishop Blenk, he served as apostolic administrator of New Orleans from 1917 to 1918.[4] He then served as apostolic administrator of the newly erected Diocese of Lafayette.[4]
Bishop of Lafayette
[edit]On July 18, 1918, Jeanmard was appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette by Pope Benedict XV.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on December 8, 1918, from Archbishop Giovanni Bonzano, with Bishops Theophile Meerschaert and John Laval serving as co-consecrators.[3] He was the first native Louisianan to become a Catholic bishop.[5]
During his 38-year tenure, Jeanmard established Immaculata Seminary, St. Mary's Orphan Home, Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House, the Catholic Student Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a retreat wing of the Most Holy Sacrament Convent, a Carmelite monastery, and numerous schools and churches.[6] He encouraged diocesan-sponsored television programs, religious radio programs in both English and French, and a diocesan newspaper The Southwest Louisiana Register.[6] Jeanmard also issued pastoral letters in support of the rights of labor to organize.[6] In 1943, he was named an assistant at the pontifical throne by Pope Pius XII.[2]
In March 1923, when the citizens of Lafayette were on the verge of rioting following a public reading of members of the Ku Klux Klan, Jeanmard encouraged the people to return to their homes.[4][7] In 1934, he welcomed the first African-American priests into the diocese, a group of men educated and ordained at St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis).[2] Jeanmard also established a number of separate parishes for African-Americans, whom he did not want intimidated or infringed upon by whites.[6] With financial assistance from Katharine Drexel, he helped establish a number of rural parochial schools for African-Americans.[6] In 1952, he became the first bishop in the Deep South to ordain an African-American man to diocesan priesthood when he conferred holy orders upon Louis Ledoux, also a graduate of St. Augustine's. In November 1955, Jeanmard excommunicated two women in Erath, Louisiana, after they beat another woman who taught an integrated catechism class.[4][5]
Retirement and legacy
[edit]On March 13, 1956, Jeanmard retired as Bishop of Lafayette; he was appointed titular bishop of Bareta by Pope Pius XII on the same date.[3] He later died at a hospital in Lake Charles, at age 77.[4] He is interred at St. John Cathedral in Lafayette.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
- ^ a b c d e f g "JEANMARD, Jules Benjamin". Louisiana Historical Association. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ a b c d "Bishop Jules Benjamin Jeanmard". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ a b c d e "BISHOP JEANMARD DIES IN LOUISIANA; Catholic Prelate Banned 2 Women Who Beat Teacher of Integrated Classes". The New York Times. 1957-02-24.
- ^ a b "Milestones". TIME Magazine. 1957-03-04. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Diocese of Lafayette History". Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana.
- ^ "Louisiana Guardsmen Refuse to Drill Under Klan Captain".
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