Chrysostome Liausu, SS.CC., (born Charles-Auguste Liausu; 17 March 1807 – 5 September 1839) was a French

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

of the

Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary () abbreviated SS.CC., is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their first house w ...

, a

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He helped start the Roman Catholic mission in the Eastern Oceania and was the Prefect Apostolic of Southern Oceania.

Biography

Liausu was born Charles-Auguste Liausu on 17 March 1807 in La Gardelle, in the

Lot Lot, LOT, The Lot or similar may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *A great many of something, as in, "There are a lot of beetles," or "There are ...

department in south-western France. Liausu joined the

in 1825 and took the name ''Jean-Chrysostome'', presumably after Saint

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...

. He was a cousin of Cyprien Liausu, who also became a Picpus missionary in the

Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...

. Liausu was part of a small group of French Picpus missionaries sent by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory 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 June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

and the ''

Propaganda Fide The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregati ...

'' to convert the natives of Eastern Oceania. Their superior

Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

was appointed the Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Oceania while Liausu was appointed prefect apostolic of the region south of the equator including the

, the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands ( ; or ' or ' ; Marquesan language, Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan language, North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan language, South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcano, volcanic islands in ...

, the

Tuamotu Islands The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...

and the

Society Islands The Society Islands ( , officially ; ) are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Mo'orea, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country ...

and

Alexis Bachelot Alexis Bachelot, SS.CC., (born Jean-Augustin Bachelot; 22 February 1796 – 5 December 1837) was a Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. In that role, he led the first permanent C ...

was charged with the region north of the equator (i.e. the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

). In 1834, Liausu and

François Caret François d'Assise Caret, SS.CC., (born François Toussaint Caret; 4 July 1802 – 26 October 1844) was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. Life ...

Honoré Laval Honoré Laval, SS.CC., (born ''Louis-Jacques Laval''; 5/6 February 1808 – 1 November 1880) was a French people, French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Picpus Fathers), a religious ins ...

and Columba Murphy arrived in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Caret and Laval with Murphy as their assistant were sent to the

while Liausu stayed behind to maintain connection between the missionaries and the Congregation back home and to wait for the arrival of Bishop Rouchouze, who was arriving at a later time. Although initially faced with hostility from

Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent p ...

's King

Maputeoa Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or ''ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as ...

, the three Catholic missionaries managed to land on a small island where the local chief and later Maputeoa's uncle Matua gave them support to learn the

Mangareva language Mangareva, Mangarevan ( autonym , ; in French ) is a Polynesian language spoken by about 600 people in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia (especially the largest island Mangareva) and by Mangarevians emigrants on the islands of Tahiti and M ...

and the islanders learned about Christianity. Within one of year of their arrival, the missionaries converted the islanders at

Taravai Taravai is the second largest island in the Gambier Islands archipelago of French Polynesia, at 5.7 km2. Taravai is about 1.5 km southwest of Mangareva, the largest island of the whole Gambier group, and about 300 m north of the island ...

Aukena Aukena is the 5th largest of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Aukena is located about halfway between Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islan ...

and Akamaru to Christianity, established churches, and even made the islanders wear

tunics A tunic is a clothing, garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The ...

. Maputeoa and his family were baptized on 25 August 1836. In 1839, he contracted

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

through his work with the Chilean soldiers. Liausu died 5 September 1839 in

having never made it to the

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liausu, Chrysostome 1807 births 1839 deaths 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Chile Picpus Fathers People from Lot (department) Deaths from typhus French expatriates in Chile Infectious disease deaths in Chile