François-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne (; 1 March 1819 – 27 January 1908) was a French cardinal of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and served as the Archbishop of Paris. His cause of canonization has commenced and he has the title of Servant of God.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

François-Marie-Benjamin Richard was born in 1819 in Nantes and was one of eleven children. Richard was educated at the seminary of St Sulpice where he studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from October 1841. 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 ...

to the priesthood on 21 December 1844 by the Archbishop of Paris

Denis Auguste Affre Denis-Auguste Affre (27 September 179327 June 1848) was a French Catholic who served as Archbishop of Paris from 1840 to 1848. He was killed while trying to negotiate peace during the June Days uprising of 1848. His cause for canonization has co ...

. He served as a parish priest from 1845 to 1846 before he was sent to

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for further studies that spanned from 1846 to 1849. He was later made the Vicar-General of Nantes on 1 August 1850 and occupied that post until 1869.Biography from "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church"
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Episcopate

Pope Pius IX appointed Richard as the Bishop of Belley on 22 December 1871. He received

episcopal consecration 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 ...

on 11 February 1872 in Paris. Later, in 1875, he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Larissa and Coadjutor of Paris. In 1886 the death of Cardinal Guibert was followed by Richard's succession to the see of Paris.

Cardinalate and death

Le Cardinal Richard mis en bière à Notre-Dame

Pope Leo XIII elevated him into the cardinalate on 24 May 1889 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Via. In January 1900 the trial of the Assumptionist Fathers resulted in the dissolution of their society as an illegal association. The next day an official visit of the archbishop to the fathers was noted by the government as an act of a political character and Richard was officially censured. His attitude was in general exceedingly moderate, he had no share in the extremist policy of the

Ultramontanes Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...

, and throughout the struggle over the law of Associations and the law of Separations he maintained his reasonable temper. Richard participated in the papal conclave of 1903 that saw the election of Pope Pius X. He presided in September 1906 over an assembly of bishops and archbishops at his palace in the rue de Grenelle, a few days after the

papal encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fro ...

forbidding French Catholics to form associations for public worship, but it was then too late for conciliation. In December he gave up the archiepiscopal palace to the government authorities. He was then an old man of nearly ninety, and his eviction evoked great sympathy. Richard died in 1908 of congestion of the lungs and was buried in the cathedral of Notre Dame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Francois 1819 births 1908 deaths Clergy from Nantes Bishops of Belley Archbishops of Paris 20th-century French cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII 19th-century French cardinals 20th-century venerated Christians French Servants of God Bishops appointed by Pope Pius IX