Perhaps you are surprised to see how short the text of St Eugene is today. Yet, behind these words is a reality that was to make a life-changing difference for Eugene until his death 29 years later. The request was accepted by the Pope, and Eugene did become a bishop, initiating a stormy relationship with the French government, much personal suffering and, finally, a period of outstanding pastoral leadership and love for the most abandoned in Marseilles, then the second-largest city of France.<\/p>\n
\nYou are in Rome\u2026<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 14 May 1832 EO VIII n 422<\/em><\/p>\n
Yvon Beaudoin explains:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe municipal council of Marseilles, at the beginning of 1831, had passed a resolution voting for the suppression of the episcopal see on the death of the incumbent. Bishop Fortun\u00e9 de Mazenod, already 84 years of age, wrote to the Pope on March 11. 1832:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am now exceedingly old, Holy Father, and I do not entertain the vain hope that God will keep me alive much longer …. It is not the closeness of death that causes me pain: my pilgrimage has lasted quite long enough…. But what will become of my poor diocese of Marseilles, so recently restored from its ruinous state by your predecessor Pius VII? \u2026 In the preoccupation that ensues from this thought.<\/p>\n
God has given me an inspiration: that Your Holiness might give me, not a coadjutor bishop – that is impossible, and besides I do not want the Government to get involved in this matter in any way – but a bishop \u201cin partibus\u201d, someone who would enjoy my confidence and that of my clergy and people. For the little time that is left to me, such a bishop would be a solace in the exercise of my ministry, while on my death he would become the stay of my flock, the hope of my clergy, the mainstay of all my institutions.<\/p>\n
I have in mind a man who is already my vicar general and who on my death will undoubtedly be named vicar capitular by my Chapter, all of whose members esteem and respect him highly. In this way he will govern the diocese with the powers of an ordinary. He will animate everyone by his zeal, his presence will sustain all the good that he has already achieved, he will administer the sacrament of holy orders and so ensure the unbroken continuity of the priesthood, in expectation of the moment when better times permit Your Holiness to provide my church with the successor of your choice\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
To ensure the success of this project. Bishop Fortun\u00e9 sent Father Tempier to Rome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Perhaps you are surprised to see how short the text of St Eugene is today. Yet, behind these words is a reality that was to make a life-changing difference for Eugene until his death 29 years later. The request was … Continue reading