The Bishop of Marseilles proved to be far more enthusiastic than his nephew on this occasion. In fact, on July 11, without first consulting the Founder, Fortune proposed, in a letter to the Grand Aumonier, that the Oblates of Mary Immaculate be sent into Algiers. These men, he wrote<\/p>\n
have been earnestly begging me to request Your Eminence for the favor of being among the laborers of the vineyard who will go to spread the faith in this conquered land. No community could possibly be better suited to carry out this great work. Our constant dealings with Algeria, the ease with which the Arab language can be learned in Marseilles and even spoken with natives of that country because of the large number of Levantines living in our city, all contribute to further the hope that these Oblates will be assigned to this holy undertaking.<\/em><\/p>\n The following day, in practically the same words, Bishop Fortune sent the same request to Prince de Polignac<\/em> [ed. He was the prime minister and foreign minister of France]. On July 15, he ordered a solemn “Te Deum”\u00a0of thanksgiving to be sung at the Cathedral the following Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n Leflon 2 p. 332<\/p>\n The revolution in Paris, which broke out a couple of weeks later, put an end to these missionary plans. Nineteen years would pass before the Oblates would go to Algeria as missionaries in 1849.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Bishop of Marseilles proved to be far more enthusiastic than his nephew on this occasion. In fact, on July 11, without first consulting the Founder, Fortune proposed, in a letter to the Grand Aumonier, that the Oblates of Mary … Continue reading