Charles Arsène Bourdon M.E.P. (1 May 18343 October 1918) was a French Catholic missionary and bishop in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Early life

Charles Arsène Bourdon, born in Caligny,

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.La Société des Missions Etrangères The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands. The Society of For ...

in 1860, and in 1863 was sent to

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

to join the Burmah mission under Bishop Bigandet.

Career

In 1872, he was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic Emeritus of

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...

with residence in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

, and a year later was ordained as

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Dardanus. In 1877, he returned to France due to ill-health but returned a year later to resume his duties. In 1887, he resigned from the Burma mission, and after a short residence in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

went to Singapore. Although not attached to the Vicariate Apostolic of Malacca-Singapore, he continued ministering to the people, visiting patients at the

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

, and serving as H.M. Military Chaplain, a post he held from 1888 to 1911. He died on 3 October 1918, aged 84, in Singapore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourdon, Charles 1834 births 1918 deaths French missionaries French Roman Catholic bishops in Asia Catholic bishops in Asia People from Orne