Antoine Blanc (11 October 1792 – 20 June 1860) was the fifth
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
and first Archbishop of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferso ...
. His tenure, during which the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, was at a time of growth in the city, which he matched with the most rapid church expansion in the history of
.
More new parishes were established in New Orleans under his episcopacy than at any other time.
Early life and education
Antoine Blanc was born in Sury, near
Sury-le-Comtal
Sury-le-Comtal () is a commune in the Loire department in central France.
Population
Personalities
* Antoine Blanc (1792-1860) archbishop of New Orleans (Louisiana)
See also
*Communes of the Loire department
The following is a list of th ...
, then in the
Department of
Rhône-et-Loire,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. He attended the seminary at Sury-le-Comtal and was ordained in 1816. On 1 July 1817 he embarked from Bordeaux with
Louis William Valentine Dubourg
Louis William Valentine DuBourg (french: Louis-Guillaume-Valentin DuBourg; 10 January 1766 – 12 December 1833) was a French Catholic prelate and Sulpician missionary to the United States. He built up the church in the vast new Louisiana Terri ...
Bishop of the
Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, who had traveled to Europe to recruit clergy. They arrived in
Annapolis, Maryland in September. Blanc and a number of seminarians stayed with
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic si ...
until the end of October when they joined Dubourg in Baltimore.
From Baltimore, they travelled on foot to
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, the stage proving too dangerous. From there, they took a
flatboat
A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...
to
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, arriving on 30 November. They reached
Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 11,700 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nelson County.
Bardstown is named for the pioneering Bard brothers. David Bard obtained a l ...
on 2 December.
Missioner
The following April, Blanc and Father Jeanjean were assigned to the mission at
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. Founded in 1732 by French fur ...
. Father Jeanjean was soon recalled. Blanc proceeded to build a log chapel at a French settlement on the Illinois side of the Wabash, about twelve miles from Vincennes.
[ Dubourg lent Blanc's services to ]Benedict Joseph Flaget
Benedict Joseph Flaget (November 7, 1763 – February 11, 1850) was a French-born Catholic bishop in the United States. He served as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown between 1808 and 1839. When the see was transferred to L ...
, Bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown, whose area included most of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
In February 1820, Blanc was recalled to New Orleans, and then assigned first to Natchez, then St. Francis Chapel at Point Coupee, Louisiana, with its mission chapels in the Felicianas and the Plains on the east side of the Mississippi River) and then at St. Joseph Church in Baton Rouge. In 1827, Blanc, Armand Duplantier Armand Gabriel Allard du Plantier (1753 – 9 Oct 1827) was a French cavalry officer who served in the American Revolutionary War as an '' aide-de-camp'' to General Lafayette.
Early life
Armand was born in Voiron, France, the son of Joseph Antoine ...
, Fulwar Skipwith
Fulwar Skipwith (February 21, 1765 – January 7, 1839) was an American soldier, diplomat, politician and farmer. who served as a U.S. Consul in Martinique, and later as the U.S. Consul-General in France. He was instrumental in negotiating the L ...
, Thomas B. Robertson and Sébastien Hiriart received permission from the state legislature to organize a corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
called the Agricultural Society of Baton Rouge.
Bishop
In December 1831, Bishop De Neckere appointed Blanc associate vicar-general of the diocese of New Orleans. Bishop De Neckere died in 1833, and Blanc was appointed administrator until October 1835 when he received the bulls naming him Bishop of New Orleans.[ Blanc's jurisdiction included the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, to which Texas was added in 1838. Later the territory was reduced when the diocese of Mississippi was established. In 1853 the Diocese of Natchitoches was founded in the northern part of Louisiana. Growth in New Orleans and the region took all of Blanc's attention.
In 1850 the Diocese of New Orleans was raised to an archdiocese, and Blanc became its first archbishop. St. Louis Cathedral remained its cathedral.
Monsignor Blanc invited the ]Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
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and Lazarites to Louisiana to establish seminaries for the training of priests. He also invited the Redemptorists
The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...
and the Christian Brothers. He also wanted to establish convents and schools for girls and invited the Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...
, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Good Shepherd Sisters
The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, also known as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, is a Catholic religious order that was founded in 1835 by Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in Angers, France. The religious sisters belong to a ...
, and the congregations of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of the Holy Cross. These new communities of Catholic workers helped the communities and took care of their populations during epidemics and other trials.
Blanc also blocked the congregation of Black sisters known now as the Sisters of the Holy Family, founded by Henriette DeLille
Henriette Díaz DeLille, SSF (March 11, 1813 – November 16, 1862) was a Louisiana Creole of color and Catholic nun from New Orleans. Her father was a white man from France, her mother was a "quadroon", and her grandfather came from Spain. She ...
, from publicly wear a habits
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. or take public vows.
Blanc also supported the new congregations of English-speaking American migrants and Irish immigrants who had become established in New Orleans and the states since the Louisiana Purchase, as well as French- and English-speaking Blacks. By 1832 New Orleans had grown to be the fourth-largest city in the nation after New York, Philadelphia, and Boston."New Orleans, Louisiana"
''Catholic Encyclopedia'', accessed 14 July 2008
The crisis of a yellow fever epidemic resulted in fatalities of 5% of the population of New Orleans.
Blanc died in 1860 in New Orleans while still in office.
Legacy and honors
Blanc's institution building during the rapid growth of New Orleans and the states resulted in the number of churches increasing from 26 to 73, and of priests from 27 to 92. Under his leadership, many schools, academies, colleges, convents, and asylums were established.
*The Archbishop Antoine Blanc Memorial at 1100 Chartres Street was named in his honor and holds the archives of the archdiocese.
*The Archbishop Antoine Blanc Assembly # 2047 of the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
, located in New Roads, LA is named in his honor.
References
*Nolan, Charles E
''A History of the Archdiocese of New Orleans''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Antoine
1792 births
1860 deaths
People from Loire (department)
French Roman Catholic missionaries
French emigrants to the United States
Roman Catholic archbishops of New Orleans
19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States
Burials at St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)
Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States