Napoléon-Joseph Perché (1805–1883) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third archbishop of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Archdiocese of New Orleans (; ; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical division of the Catholic Church spanning Jefferson (except Grand Isle), Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washingto ...

in Louisiana from 1870 to 1883.

Biography

Early life

Born on January 10, 1805, Napoléon-Joseph Perché was a native of

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

in the Department of

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...

in France. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest for the Diocese of Angiers at Beaupreau on September 19, 1829, after which he served in the local

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

until 1837, when he departed for the United States. Arriving in the United States, Perché was assigned to what was then the

Diocese of Bardstown The Diocese of Bardstown () was a Latin Church Catholic diocese in the United States established in Bardstown, Kentucky on April 8, 1808, along with the Diocese of Boston, Diocese of New York, and Diocese of Philadelphia, comprising the former ...

. On a visit to New Orleans, he delivered a powerful sermon that was heard by Archbishop Antoine Blanc. Seeing the need for a priest who could speak French, Blanc petitioned the Vincentians to transfer Perché to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In 1846, he moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he was appointed chaplain to the Ursuline Convent there. Perché founded the first archdiocesan newspaper, ''

Le Propagateur Catholique ''Le Propagateur Catholique'' ("The Catholic Propagator") was a 19th-century American, French language, French-language, Catholic Church, Roman Catholic newspaper. It was founded in 1842 at the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Or ...

'', published in French.

Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of New Orleans

On February 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX appointed Perché as

coadjutor archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and

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 Abdera. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on May 1, 1870, by

Sylvester Horton Rosecrans Sylvester Horton Rosecrans (February 5, 1827 – October 21, 1878) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Diocese of Columbus in Ohio from 1868 until his death in 1878. ...

. When Bishop Jean-Marie Odin died several weeks later on May 25, 1870, Perché automatically succeeded him as archbishop. As bishop, Perché started an extensive program of parish and school expansion in the archdiocese. He erected four new parishes in New Orleans and another 23 in the surrounding towns. Perché pushed for Catholic schools because he viewed public school education as being inadequate and too secular. Catholic schools, particularly in rural areas, were often more stable, better supported, and better attended than the public schools. By 1888, as a result of his program, more than 11,000 students were enrolled in archdiocesan schools.''A History of the Archdiocese of New Orleans: Reconstruction and its Aftermath 1865-1888''
To support this expansion, Perché recruited several religious congregations of teaching Brothers and

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and lab ...

from France. He also authorized the founding of a native congregation in 1871, the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Labadieville, Louisiana. He also established three monasteries of

enclosed religious orders Enclosed religious orders are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. The term '' cloistered'' is synonymous with ''enclosed''. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the co ...

. In 1868, Perché launched, ''The Morning Star,'' an English-language news paper for the archdiocese. The Reverend

Abram Joseph Ryan Abram Joseph Ryan (born Matthew Abraham Ryan; February 5, 1838 – April 22, 1886) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic poet, priest, journalist, orator, and former Congregation of the Mission, Vincentian. Historians disa ...

, a poet himself, served as its editor from 1871 to 1875. Despite the archdiocese's shaky financial standing, Perché borrowed heavily to finance his expansion program, as well as his personal charity to the poor. By the mid-1870s, the archdiocese had amassed a $590,925 debt (over $10 million today); the Vatican decided it was time for change. On October 23, 1879, Pope Leo XIII appointed Bishop Francis Leray as coadjutor archbishop and

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the archdiocese, giving him full control over its operation. it. It would take the archdiocese 25 years to stability its finances.

Death and legacy

Napoléon-Joseph Perché died in New Orleans on December 27, 1883. His remains were buried beneath the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

of the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis in New Orleans.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perche, Napoleon-Joseph 1805 births 1883 deaths French emigrants to the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of New Orleans 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests People from Angers Burials at St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)