Bishop Jauffret, who had been Bishop of the city of Metz, was appointed in 1811 by Napoleon to act as Archbishop of Aix \u2013 without the consent of the Pope. Eugene never accepted this irregular situation and always referred to him as the \u201cBishop of Metz\u201d and never as Archbishop of Aix en Provence.<\/p>\n
\nIt was this same sentiment that determined my choice when, on returning to Aix the Bishop of Metz, who was the administrator of the diocese at the time, asked me what I wanted to do. There was not a hair on my head that wished to take advantage of my social position to give in to the pretensions that everyone at the time would have found reason able\u2026.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
I thus responded to the Bishop of Metz that my whole ambition was to consecrate myself to the service of the poor and the youth. I thus started out in the prisons, and my first apprenticeship consisted of gathering around me young boys whom I instructed.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Diary, 31 March 1839, EO 20<\/em><\/p>\n
Now that Napoleon had been removed, Leflon narrates:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis spiritual regeneration demanded, as a prerequisite, the restoration of the rights of the Holy See, violated by an imperial Caesarism which attempted to make the papacy a superfluity. At Aix, those rights had to be restored immediately and, at one and the same time, the errors and weaknesses of those who had betrayed and repudiated those same rights had to be penalized. Father de Mazenod, therefore, plunged resolutely and thoroughly into the battle waged against Bishop Jauffret, who had been irregularly imposed upon the diocese and against the latter\u2019s local partisans.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
Leflon II p. 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bishop Jauffret, who had been Bishop of the city of Metz, was appointed in 1811 by Napoleon to act as Archbishop of Aix \u2013 without the consent of the Pope. Eugene never accepted this irregular situation and always referred to … Continue reading