François-Jean-Marie Laouënan

Archbishop François-Jean-Marie Laouënan M.E.P.
Archbishop of Pondicherry
See	Pondicherry
Appointed	24 July 1868
Installed	11 October 1868
Term ended	29 September 1892
Predecessor	Joseph-Isidore Godelle
Successor	Joseph-Adolphe Gandy
Orders
Ordination	6 June 1846
Consecration	11 October 1868 by Etienne-Louis Charbonnaux
Personal details
Birth name	François-Jean-Marie Laouënan
Born	(1822-11-19)November 19, 1822 Lannion, France
Died	September 29, 1892(1892-09-29) (aged 69) Sanatorium of Montbeton, France
Denomination	Catholic
Motto	MISERICORDIAS DOMINI IN AETERNUM CANTABO (May my prayer come before you - Psalms 82:2)[1]
Coat of arms

François-Jean-Marie Laouënan (19 November, 1868 – 29 September, 1892) was a member of Paris Foreign Missions Society and was the archbishop of Archdiocese of Pondicherry. On 24 July 1868 he was appointed to succeed Bishop Joseph-Isidore Godelle as Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry. He was consecrated as a bishop on 11 October 1868. When Pope Leo XII established Catholic hierarchy in India, Mgr. Laouënan was appointed as Archbishop of the same see on 25 November 1886.^[1] He was the Archbishop until his death on 29 September 1892.^[2] He was succeeded by Joseph-Adolphe Gandy.

Early life

Laouënan was born on November 19, 1822 in Lannion, Côtes-du-Nord. After having studied at the minor seminaries of Plouguernével and Tréguier, he spent a year in the Seminary of Saint-Brieuc. Later he entered the Seminary of the MEP on September 29, 1843. He was ordained as a Priest on June 6, 1846.^[3] He was sent on August 1 to Pondicherry. In January 1847 he was appointed as a teacher at the colonial college of this city. Upon his own request he was transferred to Kumakonam in May 1857 by Bishop Bonnand.

From 1859 to 1862, he accompanied Bishop Bonnand and Bishop Charbonnaux on the Apostolic visitation of the missions of India. Based on the experience he gained in those travels, he authored the book: Du Brahmanisme Et de Ses Rapports Avec Le Judaisme Et Le Christianisme. (Brahmanism and its relation to Judaism and Christianity) which he published in 1885 at the Académie française at prix Bordin. After returning to Pondicherry, he directed the Seminary of the mission, and in 1866, resumed his former duties as the principal of colonial college.

As Vicar Apostolic

After the death of Mgr. Joseph-Isidore Godelle in 1867, Laouënan was recommended as his successor. on June 5, 1868, Pope Pius IX appointed him as the Titular Bishop of Flaviopolis and Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry. He wrote to the Pope expressing his unwillingness to assume this post. But pope rejected his plea. He was consecrated at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry on 11 October 1868 by Bishop Charbonnaux.

In 1870 he attended the First Vatican Council with Bishop Charbonnaux and Bishop Dépommier.^[3] He had been appointed as the 19th member of the commission of the Eastern Rite and Missions in January of that year. He also collaborated actively on the reforming of the regulations of Paris Foreign Missions Society.

Returning to his mission, he applied himself for development works. He rebuilt the seminary, and develop Saint-Joseph's College in Cuddalore. Under his leadership and conversions surged in-spite of ongoing famine; Many consider this surge is due to poor hungry people attracted to the charitable benefits of the Missionaries.^[4] In 1874 he drafted the "Statutes of the Vicariate of Pondicherry". In 1879 this was revised and published as the "Directory of the Mission". It had directives concerning the duties of missionaries and their attitude concerning the duties of the missionaries and their attitude towards customs of the country, especially those concerning Hindu marriages.

In 1883, citing his frail health he requested for a coadjutor. Mgr Gandy was appointed as his coadjutor. He consecrated him on September 9 of the same year.

As Archbishop

Full Stained Glass window

Closer view of Mgr. Laouënan

Arms of Laouënan and other Bishops

Mgr. Laouënan at the coronation of Our Lady of Folgoët in 1888. The Basilica of Our Lady of Folgoët, France. Artist: Émile Hirsch

Styles of François-Jean-Marie Laouënan
Reference style	His Excellency
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	The Most Reverend

He took a very active part in the negotiations which preceded the Concordat, signed on June 23, 1886 between Rome and Portugal, for the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the India. On this occasion, he was called to Rome by Pope Leo XIII in 1884; He proposed solutions with such a skill and wisdom that in 1886 Pope Leo XIII made him a Roman count and Assistant at the Pontifical Throne.

The thorny issue ended with the establishment of the hierarchy in India, which was decreed by the bull Humanae salutis,^[5] dated September 1, 1886. On November 25 by the brief Apostolatus officium, Pope transferred the incumbent Bishops of titular sees in India to respective churches. Laouënan was appointed Archbishop of Pondicherry, and on 17 March 1887 he received the pallium.

On February 21, 1886 Laouënan with the permission of Pope Leo XIII, declared Our Lady of Lourdes, Villianur as a Marian Shrine and canonically crowned the statue there in the pope's name.

In 1888, he participated in the Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Folgoët.^[6] He is depicted along with other participants in the stained glass window at the Basilica of Our Lady of Folgoët. His coat of arms is depicted too.

Death

In 1891, his health gave way and during the month of march, he got several strokes of cerebral congestion. He went to France hoping for a cure, but he got worse and died at the Sanatorium of Montbeton on September 29, 1892.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to François-Jean-Marie Laouënan.