Georges Darboy
 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source.(January 2017) |
Servant of God Georges Darboy | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Paris | |
 Georges Darboy in 1865. | |
| See | Paris |
| Installed | January 1863 |
| Term ended | May 1871 |
| Predecessor | François-Nicholas-Madeleine Morlot |
| Successor | Joseph Hippolyte Guibert |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 17 December 1836 |
| Consecration | 30 November 1859 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 January 1813 Fayl-Billot,Haute-Marne,France |
| Died | 24 May 1871(aged 58) Paris,France |
| Cause of death | Execution by shooting |
| Nationality | French |
| Coat of arms |  |
Georges Darboy(French pronunciation:[ʒɔʁʒdaʁbwa];16 January 1813 – 24 May 1871) was a FrenchCatholicprelate who served asBishop of NancythenArchbishop of Paris.He was among a group of prominenthostagesexecuted as theParis Communeof 1871 was about to be overthrown.
Biography
[edit]Darboy was born inFayl-Billot,Haute-Marnein north-east France. He studied with distinction at theseminaryatLangres,and was ordained priest in 1836. Transferred to Paris asalmonerof the college ofHenry IV,and honorary canon ofNotre Dame,he became the close friend ofArchbishop Affreand of his successorArchbishop Sibour.He was appointed bishop ofNancyin 1859, and in January 1863 was raised to the archbishopric of Paris.
Darboy was a strenuous upholder of episcopal independence in theGallicansense, and involved himself in a controversy with Rome by his endeavours to suppress the jurisdiction of theJesuitsand other religious orders within hisdiocese.Pope Pius IXrefused him thecardinal's hat, and rebuked him for his liberalism in a letter which was probably not intended for publication.[1]He is also known for his opposition in 1868 toJacques-Paul Migne,forbidding him to continue his low-cost books business after the burning of his printing establishment, and suspending him from his priestly functions.[citation needed]At theFirst Vatican Councilhe vigorously maintained the rights of the bishops, and strongly opposed thedogmaofpapal infallibility,against which he voted as inopportune. When the dogma had been finally adopted, however, he was one of the first to set the example of submission.[1]
Immediately after his return to Paris thewarwithPrussiabroke out, and his conduct during the disastrous year that followed was marked by a devoted heroism which has secured for him an enduring fame. He was active in organizing relief for the wounded at the commencement of the war, remained at his post during the siege, and refused to seek safety by flight during the brief triumph of theParis Commune.[1]On 4 April 1871, he was arrested by theCommunardsas a hostage and confined inMazas Prison.The Communards offered to exchange him and several priests forLouis Auguste Blanqui,who was being held by theVersaillesgovernment.[2][3]He was transferred toLa Roquette Prisonson the advance of the Versailles army, and on 24 May he was shot within the prison along with several other prominent hostages.[1]The execution was ordered byThéophile Ferré,who later was executed by firing squad by the French government after the fall of the Commune.[4]
Darboy died in the attitude of blessing and uttering words of forgiveness. His body was recovered with difficulty, and, having been embalmed, was buried with imposing ceremony at public expense on 7 June. He was the third archbishop of Paris to die violently between 1848 and 1871 afterDenis Auguste Affre(killed 1848) andMarie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour(assassinated in 1857).[1]
A cause for thebeatificationof Darboy and the other hostages was formally opened on 16 March 1937, granting them the title ofServants of God.[5]
Works
[edit]- Œuvres de Saint Denys l'Aréopagite(1845).
- Les Femmes de la Bible(1846–1849).
- Les Saintes Femmes(1850).
- Lettres à Combalot(1851).
- Jérusalem et la Terre Sainte(1852).
- L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ(1852).
- Statistique Religieuse du Diocèse de Paris(1856).
- Saint Thomas Becket(1858).
- Du Gouvernement de Soi-même(1867).
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdeOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Darboy, Georges".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 828.Endnote: See
- Joseph-Alfred Foulon(1889).Histoire de la Vie et des Œuvres de Mgr. Darboy.Paris: Librairie Poussielgue Frères.
- Guillermin, J. (1888).Vie de Mgr. Darboy.Paris: Bloud & Barral.
- ^Marx, KarlThe Civil War in FranceChapter 6
- ^Fernbach, David (ed.)Marx: The First International and After,p. 230
- ^"The Recent Executions".The Times.No. 27234. London. 30 November 1871. p. 12.
- ^Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum(in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 85.
Further reading
[edit]- Horvath-Peterson, Sandra (1982). "Abbé Georges Darboy's 'Statistique Religieuse du Diocèse de Paris' (1856),"The Catholic Historical Review,Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 401–450.
- Katz, Philip M. (1994). "'Lessons from Paris': The American Clergy Responds to the Paris Commune,"Church History,Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 393–406.
- Parsons, Reuben(1901)."The Clerical Victims of the Commune of 1871."In:Studies in Church History,Vol. VI. New York: Fr. Pustet & Co., pp. 85–110.
- Price, Lewis C. (1915).Archbishop Darboy and Some French Tragedies, 1813-1871.London: George Allen & Unwin.
- Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred(1914).My Adventures in the Commune, Paris, 1871.London: Chatto & Windus.
External links
[edit]
