Anthony Durier (August 7, 1832 – February 28, 1904) was a French-born American prelate of the
Catholic Church. He served as the third bishop of the
Diocese of Natchitoches in Louisianan from 1885 until his death in 1904.
Biography
Early life
Durier was born on August 7, 1832 in
Saint-Bonnet-des-Quarts
Saint-Bonnet-des-Quarts () is a commune in the Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Loire department
The following is a list of the 323 communes of the Loire department of France.
The communes cooperate i ...
,
Loire in France to Jacques and Claudine (née Lucien) Durier.
He made his preparatory studies for the priesthood at the minor seminary in
Saint-Jodard, France, before entering the major seminary of Saint-Irénée at
Lyon, France
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...
, in 1853.
While still a seminarian, he accepted an appeal from Archbishop
Antoine Blanc
Antoine Blanc (11 October 1792 – 20 June 1860) was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. His tenure, during which the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, was at a time of growth in the city, ...
for missionaries in the United States.
He departed from
Le Havre in October 1855 and arrived in
New Orleans in December 1855. However, the diocesan seminary at
Plattenville had burned to the ground earlier that year, and Durier was sent to
Cincinnati to complete his theological studies at
Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West.
[
]
Priesthood
Durier was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on October 28, 1856 by Archbishop John Purcell in Cincinnati.Minerton, Ohio
Minerton is a former town in Vinton County, in the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million ...
before returning to New Orleans in April 1857 to serve as assistant pastor at St. Louis Cathedral.[
In 1859, Durier was appointed pastor of the Church of the Annunciation Parish in New Orleans, where he remained for 25 years. He guided the parish through the American Civil War, a yellow fever epidemic in 1878, and many floods.][ From November to December 1884, he attended the third ]Plenary Council of Baltimore
The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the early history of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States all of the diocese ...
as a theological consultant to Archbishop Francis Xavier Leray
Francis Xavier Leray (April 20, 1825 – September 23, 1887) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchitoches in Louisianan (1877–1879) and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of ...
.[
]
Bishop of Natchitoches
On December 19, 1884, Durier was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Natchitoches by Pope Leo XIII.[ He received his episcopal consecration on March 19, 1885, from Archbishop Leray, with Bishops John Neraz and Nicolaus Gallagher serving as co-consecrators, at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.][
Durier's most notable contribution as bishop was the advancement of Catholic education. In 1886, he ordered that every parish in the diocese should establish a parochial school, and in 1889 he organized the first Catholic school board.][ He invited several religious orders to the diocese, such as the Sisters of Divine Providence, Carmelites, and Jesuits, who established schools in Alexandria, Mansfield, and ]Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
, all in Louisiana. He opened six schools for African-American children, with a total enrollment of more than 300 pupils in 1894.[ Durier also established seven new parishes and finished construction on the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Natchitoches, which he consecrated in September 1892.][
Durier died in Natchitoches on February 28, 1904, at age 71. He is buried in the cemetery of the Daughters of the Cross in Shreveport.
]
Notes
Episcopal succession
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durier, Anthony
1833 births
1904 deaths
French Roman Catholic bishops in North America
Roman Catholic bishops of Alexandria
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States