Louis-Antoine-Augustin Pavy (1805–1866) was a French Catholic prelate who served as the second Bishop of Algiers from 1846 to 1866. He attempted to convert the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

Catholicism 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 denounced

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, rampant among French colonists, as the work of the devil.

Biography

Early life

Louis-Antoine-Augustin Pavy was born on 13 March 1805.

Career

Pavy was ordained as a priest in 1829. He served as the second Bishop of Algiers from 1846 to 1866. During his tenure, he was responsible for the construction of

Notre Dame d'Afrique Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique ( English: “Basilica of Our Lady of Africa”) is a Catholic basilica in Algiers, Algeria. It is the origin of the modern Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Africa. Pope Pius IX granted two Pontifical decrees towa ...

in Algiers. Like his predecessor, he attempted to convert the Arabs to Catholicism. His 1850 request to evangelise the Arabs in villages across the

Constantine Province Constantine () is one of the 58 provinces (''wilayas'') of Algeria, whose capital is the city of the same name, with 1 291 575 inhabitants, with a density of 460/km2 (1,200/sq mi) History In 1984 Mila Province was carved out of its territory. ...

was denied by the Minister of War, who feared they would feel disrespected. Undaunted, he gave speeches denouncing Islam from his pulpit in Algiers. Meanwhile, Pavy made sure to cater to the French colonists who lived in Algiers. He was especially fearful of their growing adherence to socialism, which he compared to the devil. In 1863, Pavy suggested that it was easier to preach in small towns than large cities, where

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

had become a problem. However, he did not see

freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

as mutually incompatible with Catholicism.

Death

Pavy died on 16 July 1866, at the age of 61.

Works

* * * * * * *

References