Clément Bonnand, MEP (; 20 May 1796 – 21 March 1861) was a

French Catholic The Catholic Church in France, Gallican Church, or French Catholic Church, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. Established in the 2nd century in unbroken communion with the bishop of Rome, it was sometim ...

missionary of

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

and was the Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry from 3 April 1850 until his death on 21 March 1861. He was born on 20 May 1796 in

Saint-Maurice-sur-Dargoire Saint-Maurice-sur-Dargoire (; literally "Saint-Maurice on Dargoire") is a former commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Chabanière.Phirangipuram Phirangipuram is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Phirangipuram mandal of Guntur revenue division. Demographics Census of India, the village had a population of , of which males are , femal ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Consecration

He was selected as Coadjutor by Bishop Louis-Charles-Auguste Hébert in 1831. He hesitated a long time before accepting this charge. He was consecrated on 8 November 1833 at

Oulgaret Uzhavarkarai () is a city, a municipality and a taluk in Puducherry district in the union territory of Puducherry. The enclaves of Kalapet and Alankuppam are parts of Uzhavarkarai municipality. Uzhavarkarai is also the only sub-taluk (firka) i ...

in Our Lady of Victory Church.Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Volume 1, 1839 - Pg. 146
/ref> This odd place was chosen for his consecration because the diocese was hit by a heavy famine and it was feared that a lavish ceremony would result in the hatred of the starving people. Mgr. Hébert also advised not to inform about the consecration even to the priests of the vicarate. Anyhow, Mgr. Bonnand informed Fr. Surpiés. The ceremony was considered as a mean one by Bonnand himself, because he was given an old white

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

and Mgr. Hébert's

cassock The cassock, or soutane, is a Christian clerical clothing, clerical coat used by the clergy and Consecrated life, male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in ...

was adjusted to fit him. The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith mentions that Dr. Bonnand was authorized by the Holy See to send missionaries to the Maldive Islands where the Christian faith has not reached.

Mission Press

Mgr. Bonnand encouraged his priests to enter into the press media. The catholic mission started their own schools and began to publish books on matter of Catholic Doctrine. Mgr. Bonnand himself published a small catechism book in 1837. Due to the usefulness this media, a new printing press was established by the mission near the cathedral in 1841. In this press, Mgr. Bonnand published a larger catechism book in 1841.

The Synod of Pondicherry

The Salient point of his tenure as Vicar Apostolic, was "The Synod of Pondicherry". It took place from 18 January to 13 February 1844. It was to have a very great influence not only in India but in all the Far East. After the Synod, Father LUQUET was sent to Rome to plead for the creation of local catholic hierarchy in India, but the request was too much ahead of the time. On 16 March 1845 the Vicariate Apostolic of Pondicherry was divided into three missions. Namely: Pondicherry, Coimbatore and Mysore. On 3 April 1850, by the Brief "Pastorale Minsisterium" Mysore and Coimbatore too, were elevated into an

Apostolic Vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

. In 1849, Mgr Bonnad held a second synod that completed the work of the Synod of 1844. On 13 August 1859 Mgr Bonnand was appointed by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, Visitor Apostolic for all the missions in India. He left Pondicherry, never to return, on 29 November 1859. He died in Benares on 21 March 1861. The short biography of his predecessor Mgr. Hébert, ends with the following note:" Selecting Mgr BONNAND as his successor may be considered as the greatest service he rendered to the mission." Mgr. Bonnand, was one of the most remarkable Vicar Apostolic of the MEP Society and the missions in India where he played an important role for more than 20 years.Biography in French at archives.mepasie.org
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnand, Clement 1796 births 1861 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Pondicherry and Cuddalore 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India French Roman Catholic missionaries Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries French Roman Catholic bishops in Asia Roman Catholic missionaries in India French expatriates in India