Paul Alphéran de Bussan was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archbishop who served as

Bishop of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta ( Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year ...

from 1728 till 1757.

Early life

Born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, France on 28 October 1686 of noble parentage, Paul Alphéran de Bussan graduated in Bachelor of Theology from the University of Aix in 1705. He soon travelled to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and lived with his uncle, Melchior Alpheran de Bussan, a Conventual Chaplain of Obedience of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

. His brother Jean-Melchior Alphéran was also a member of the order of St John and became abbot of

Sept-Fons Abbey Sept-Fons Abbey, Notre-Dame de Sept-Fons or Notre-Dame de Saint-Lieu Sept-Fons is a Trappist monastery at Diou, Allier, Diou in Bourbonnais in the diocese of Moulins in France. Around ninety monks currently live in the monastery, many of whom a ...

in 1755. The ship on which the 19-year-old Paul was travelling was caught in heavy storms and had to seek shelter in

St. Paul's Bay Saint Paul's Bay () is a town located on the northeast coast of Malta in the Northern Region. It is a major residential and commercial area and a centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. As per the 2021 population census, it has also ...

where he came ashore.

Priesthood

Paul was ordained priest by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmeri on 8 December 1710. He was received as Conventual Chaplain in the Langue of Provence. He was also prior of the convent church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte in

in 1720. He was appointed Secretary for French Affairs by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena.

Bishop

On 8 March 1728

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

appointed Paul Alphéran de Bussan as

."Archbishop Paul Alpheran de Bussan, O.S.Io.Hieros"
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 03 February 2015. He was consecrated by the same Pope on 14 March that year. In 1733 Bishop Alphéran de Bussan built the

Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...

seminary, now the Cathedral Museum. On 19 September 1746 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tamiathis. In 1752 he financed the printing of a Maltese translation of Cardinal Bellarmino’s Catholic Catechism which was distributed to every parish in

Death

Archbishop Alphéran de Bussan died on 20 April 1757 at his Mdina residence. He was buried in the Cathedral crypt but his heart was interred in the chapel of the seminary he had built. On the initiative of the Cathedral Chapter, a memorial baroque marble slab was installed in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of the Cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussan, Paul Alpheran de 1684 births 1757 deaths French Roman Catholic titular bishops Clergy from Aix-en-Provence Bishops of Malta