Ambrose Maréchal, P.S.S. (August 28, 1764 – January 29, 1828) was an American

Sulpician The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, ...

and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as the third

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of Mar ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He dedicated the

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Baltimore Basilica, was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and was among the first major religious buildings construc ...

, the oldest cathedral in the United States, in Baltimore in 1821.

Biography

Maréchal was born at

Ingré Ingré () is a commune in the Loiret department, central France. It is part of the urban area of Orléans. Population Twin towns — sister cities Ingré is twinned with: * Castel Maggiore, Italy (2011) * Drensteinfurt, Germany (2017) Se ...

in the former Province of

Orléanais The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former province of France, which was created during the Renaissance by merging four former counties and towns. However after the French Revolution, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départm ...

in the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

on August 28, 1764, of fairly prosperous parents. He studied for the legal profession, but later entered the Sulpician seminary at Orléans, where he received the

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

towards the close of 1787.McNeal, James. "Ambrose Maréchal." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 22 January 2018 France was in such a chaotic condition that he left

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, where he was ordained in 1792. On the day of his ordination, and at the risk of his life, accompanied by the

Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...

s Richard, Martignon and Cicquard, he sailed for America and arrived at Baltimore on June 24, 1792, where he offered his first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. Maréchal was sent to the mission in

St. Mary's County St. Mary's County may refer to: * St. Mary's County, Maryland *St. Mary's County, Utah Territory There are 29 counties in the U.S. state of Utah. There were originally seven counties established under the provisional State of Deseret in 1849: ...

, and later to Bohemia on the eastern shore of Maryland. In 1799 he was teaching theology at the Sulpician's St. Mary's Seminary, in Baltimore, and in 1801 he was teaching philosophy at

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

. Civil government having been restored in France under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, in 1803 Maréchal was recalled to France by his superiors to teach at Saint-Flour,

Lyon 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 t ...

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgi ...

and

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. In 1812 he was again assigned to teach at St. Mary's in Baltimore, where for a time he also served as president. His pupils at Marseilles presented him with the marble altar which now stands in the Baltimore Basilica, and King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

demonstrated his regard by presenting him with several paintings, which also remain in that Basilica.

Archbishop

In 1816 he was nominated Bishop of Philadelphia, but at his request the nomination was withdrawn and, on July 24, 1817, he was appointed

Coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

to Archbishop

Leonard Neale Leonard Neale (October 15, 1746 – June 18, 1817) was an American Catholic prelate and Jesuit who became the second Archbishop of Baltimore and the first Catholic bishop to be ordained in the United States. While president of Georgetown Coll ...

of Baltimore, and Titular of Stauropolis. The

brief Brief, briefs, or briefing may refer to: Documents * A letter * A briefing note * Papal brief, a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring * Design brief, a type of ed ...

of the appointment had not reached Baltimore when Archbishop Neale died, and Maréchal was not consecrated Archbishop of Baltimore by Bishop Cheverus of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

until December 14, 1817. Maréchal indicated that the most pressing problems facing the Archdiocese were the shortage of priests and rebellious trustees who wished to determine where those few be assigned. This appeared to be a particular problem in parishes with a dominant number of Irish immigrants, who would support a particular cleric regardless of how unsuitable or unqualified. In 1820 Bishop Flaget of Bardstown warned Maréchal of an individual who seemed to have the appropriate letters of introduction, but upon observing him say Mass, appeared not to be a priest at all. Maréchal advised the Propaganda Fide (

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

) of the matter of problematic Irish priests being given letters of transfer by their bishops. During his tenure, the dioceses of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and Charleston were created. The building of the Baltimore Basilica, the first Catholic Cathedral built in the United States, which had been begun under Archbishop

John Carroll John Carroll may refer to: People Academia and science *Sir John Carroll (astronomer) (1899–1974), British astronomer *John Alexander Carroll (died 2000), American history professor *John Bissell Carroll (1916–2003), American cognitive sci ...

in 1806, was now resumed and completed and was dedicated on May 31, 1821, under the title of the ''Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary''. Also in 1821, Maréchal went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on business of his diocese, and in connection with the White Marsh plantation which the Archbishop claimed as Diocesan property, but which had been given to the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

on February 17, 1728, and was claimed by them as property of the Society to be employed in the interests of the Church of Maryland. The archbishop secured from Rome a Bull in his favour. In 1826 Maréchal made a journey to Canada, and on his return fell ill. He died at age 63 on January 29, 1828, in Baltimore. His coadjutor, James Whitfield, who succeeded him as Archbishop of Baltimore, had not yet been consecrated when Maréchal died. Maréchal's body is interred in the Baltimore Basilica's crypt, and his heart is in the chapel behind

Elizabeth Ann Seton Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system. After her death, she became the first person bo ...

's house in downtown Baltimore.

Works

His writings consist almost entirely of letters and documents scholarly in style, and are to be found in "The History of the Society of Jesus in North America" by Hughes.

Notes

References

External links