Mgr. Félix Antoine Philibert Dupanloup (3 January 180211 October 1878) was a French ecclesiastic. He was among the leaders of

Liberal Catholicism Liberal Catholicism was a current of thought within the Catholic Church. It was influential in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, especially in France. It is largely identified with French political theorists such as Felicité ...

in France.

Biography

Dupanloup was born at Saint-Félix, in

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

, an illegitimate son of Prince Camillo Borghese. In his earliest years he was confided to the care of his brother, a priest in the

diocese of Chambéry In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1810 he was sent to a ''pensionnat ecclésiastique'' at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Thence he went to the seminary of

Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet () is a Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement. It was constructed between 1656 and 1763. The facade was designed in the classical style by Charles Le Brun. It contains many notable ...

in 1813, and was transferred to the seminary of Saint Sulpice at Paris in 1820. In 1825 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

priest, and was appointed vicar of the Madeleine at Paris. For a time he was tutor to the

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

lauding his work there, and calling him ''Apostolus juventutis''. He was elected to the Académie française in 1854, occupying the thirty-eighth chair, becoming leader of the academy's "religious party", in which capacity he opposed the election of agnostic intellectuals. Dupanloup resigned in 1875 after

Émile Littré Émile Maximilien Paul Littré (; 1 February 18012 June 1881) was a French lexicographer, freemason and philosopher, best known for his '' Dictionnaire de la langue française'', commonly called . Biography Littré was born in Paris. His fathe ...

, an agnostic, was elected to the academy. His imposing height, his noble features, his brilliant eloquence, as well as his renown for zeal and charity, made him a prominent feature in French life for many years. Crowds of persons attended his addresses, on whom his energy, command of language, powerful voice and impassioned gestures made a profound impression. When made

bishop of Orléans A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1849, he pronounced a fervid panegyric on

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

, which attracted attention in England as well as France. Joan of Arc was later canonized, due partly to Dupanloup's efforts. Before this, he had been sent by Archbishop Aifre to Rome, and had been appointed Roman prelate and protonotary apostolic. For thirty years he remained a notable figure in France, doing his utmost to arouse his countrymen from religious indifference. He was a distinguished educationist who fought for the retention of the Latin classics in the schools and instituted the celebrated catechetical method of St Sulpice. Among his publications are ''De l'Éducation'' (1850), ''De la Haute Éducation Intellectuelle'' (3 vols., 1866), ''Œuvres Choisies'' (1861, 4 vols.); ''Histoire de Jésus'' (1872), a counterblast to Renan's ''Vie de Jésus''. In ecclesiastical policy his views were moderate. Both before and during the First Vatican Council, he opposed the definition of the dogma of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks '' ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the apos ...

as inopportune, but after the definition was among the first to accept the

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

.Cross, Robert D. (1958). "Catholicism and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Europe", in ''The Emergence of Liberal Catholicism in America''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Dupanloup died on 11 October 1878 at the château of La Combe-de-Lancey.

Memory

In the work known as ''

Illustrissimi ''Illustrissimi'', or "''To the Illustrious Ones''", is a collection of letters written by Pope John Paul I when he was Patriarch of Venice. The letters were originally published in the Italian Christian paper ''Messaggero di S. Antonio'' between ...

'', a collection of letters written by

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

when he was Patriarch of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Dupanloup is one of the "recipients" of the letters. There are 40 letters in all, mainly to people in Italian history and fiction, but also to internationally well known fictional and historical characters such as

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...

, and

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. Each of the letters tend to be droll and witty, but cleverly turned into a short sermon in order to make a point, whether it is on fashion, pornography, capitalism, or the communications industry. In his book '' My Life and Loves'', volume III, chapter 15,

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

tells of an anecdote he told Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales, about the bishop: "There is a story told," I said, "of Monseigneur Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, who was supposed to be one of the wittiest men of his time. He was at dinner once with a lady who made a peculiar little noise and then proceeded to shuffle with her feet on the parquet so as to cover the indiscretion with similar sounds. 'Oh, Madame,' said the witty Bishop, 'please don't trouble to find a rhyme; it is not important.'" The Prince laughed but did not prize the witty word at its real worth.

Works

* (1845). ''De la Pacification Religieuse''. Lecoffre et Cie. * (1860). ''La Souveraineté Pontificale selon le Droit Catholique et le Droit Européen''. J. Lecoffre et Cie. * (1860). ''Réponse de Mgr l'Évêque d'Orléans à M. le Baron Molroguier''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1861). ''Défense de la Liberté de l'Église''. R. Ruffet. * (1865). ''La Convention du 8 Décembre. Suivie d'une Lettre au Journal des Débats''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1866). ''L'Athéisme et le Péril Social''. Paris: Charles Douniol et Cie. * (1866). ''Entretiens sur la Prédication Populaire''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1866). ''De la Haute Éducation Intellectuelle''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1867). ''Louis XVII, sa Vie, son Agonie, sa Mort: captivité de la famille royale au Temple''. H. Plon. * (1869). ''L' Enfant''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1869). ''La Femme Studieuse''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1872). ''De l'Éducation''. Paris: Charles Douniol et Cie. tomes ** ''De l'Éducation en Général''. ** ''De l'Autorité et du respect dans l'Éducation''. ** ''Les Hommes d'Éducation''. * (1875). ''Étude sur la Franc-maçonnerie''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1878). ''Premières Lettres a Messieurs les Membres du Conseil Municipal de Paris sur le Centenaire de Voltaire''. Paris: Société Bibliographique. * (1879). ''Lettres sur l'Éducation des Filles et sur les Études qui Convienment aux Femmes dans le Monde''. Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1920). ''Le Mariage Chrétien''. Paris: P. Téqui.

Works in English translation

* (1860)
''The Papal Sovereignty''
London: Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Company. * (1869). ''Studious Women''. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. * (1869). ''Joan of Arc''. London: Burns and Oates. * (1875)
''The Child''
Boston: Thomas B. Noonan & Co. * (1875). ''A Study of Freemasonry''. London: Burns and Oates (American edition
Newark, N.J.: J.J. O'Connor & Co, 1876
. * (1890)
''The Ministry of Catechising''
London: Griffith Farran & Co. * (1891)
''The Ministry of Preaching''
London: Griffith Farran, Okeden & Welsh.

Selected articles

* (1867)
"Learned Women and Studious Women,"Part II
''The Catholic World'', Vol. VI, pp. 24–43, 209–226.

Notes

References

*Lagrange, François (1885). ''Life of Monseigneur Dupanloup: Bishop of Orleans''. London: Chapman & Hall. * Mirecourt, Eugène de (1867)
"Dupanloup (Monseigneur)."
In: ''Portraits et Silhouettes au XIXe Siècle''. Paris: E. Dentu. *Nielsen, Fredrik (1906)
''The History of the Papacy in the XIXth Century''
London: John Murray. *Peletier, Victor (1876)
''Monseigneur Dupanloup''
Paris: Haton Librairie. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupanloup, Felix 1802 births 1878 deaths People from Haute-Savoie 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Bishops of Orléans French educational theorists Liberal Catholicism Members of the Académie Française French life senators