Dominique Lefèbvre
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Dominique Lefèbvre (1810–1865) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society to Vietnam and the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Cochin and of the
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...
Isauropolis, '' in partibus infidelium'', during the 19th century. His two terms of imprisonment during the reign of Emperor Thiệu Trị were a pretext for the first French naval interventions in the country. Having been ordained in December 1834, Fr. Dominique Lefèbvre arrived in Đại Nam in 1835. In 1839, Fr. Lefèbvre was appointed the Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Cochin and Titular Bishop of Isauropolis. He was consecrated on 1 August 1841 by Bishop Étienne-Théodore Cuenot of the Apostolic Vicariate of Cochin. This apostolic vicariate was subsequently reorganized into the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Cochin and the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Cochin by
Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...
in March of 1844, and Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre was appointed the Apostolic Vicar of Western Cochin (Fr. Jean-Claude Miche was appointed the Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar simultaneously). The Apostolic Vicariate of Western Cochin would ultimately become the Archdiocese of Saigon. At the time, it was illegal for missionaries to enter the country to proselytise. In 1845, Bishop Lefèbvre was condemned to death after being arrested at Cái Nhum in 1844 and then sent to
Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
. The US Captain John Percival of the USS ''Constitution'' failed in his attempts to have him released, but managed to inform Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille who obtained his release.''The Last Emperors of Vietnam'' By Oscar Chapuis p.4
/ref>''A History of Vietnam'' By Oscar Chapuis p.194
/ref> Later Dominique Lefèbvre again re-entered Vietnam, and was again imprisoned. In 1847, Cécille sent two warships (''Gloire'' and ''Victorieuse'') under Captains Lapierre and Charles Rigault de Genouilly to Tourane (Danang) to obtain the liberation of two imprisoned French missionaries, Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre (imprisoned for a second time as he had re-entered Vietnam secretly) and Duclos, and freedom of worship for Catholics in Vietnam.Chapuis, p.
Google Books
Quote: ''Two years later, in 1847, Lefèbvre was again captured when he returned to Vietnam. This time Cecille sent captain Lapierre to Danang. Whether Lapierre was aware or not that Lefebvre had already been freed and on his way back to Singapore, the French first dismantled masts of some Vietnamese ships. Later on April 14, 1847, in only one hour, the French sank the last five bronze-plated vessels in the bay of Danang.''
As negotiations drew on without results, an incident named the Bombardment of Tourane erupted on 15 April 1847. Under the order of
Thiệu Trị Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
, six corvettes from Đại Nam ambuscaded the frigate ''Gloire'' and the corvette ''Victorieuse'', which were sent to Tourane to negotiate for the liberation of the imprisoned French missionaries and to seek a commitment from the authorities in Đại Nam to allow freedom of worship for Catholics, in the Bay of Tourane. In the brief action that followed, the French sank four of Đại Nam's corvettes and disabled a fifth, and inflicted nearly 1,200 casualties on the outclassed Đại Nam's sailors. The French fleet then sailed away. Bishop Lefèbvre was the principal consecrator of Bishop Jean-Claude Miche in the latter's episcopal ordination on 13 June 1847. In 1863, Bishop Lefèbvre laid the
cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
of the seminary at the location on Tôn Đức Thắng Boulevard where it still stands today. Dominique Lefèbvre resigned and returned to France in 1864 due to health problems and died in Marseilles in 1865.


See also

* Tự Đức's Catholic persecution * France-Vietnam relations


Notes

1810 births 1865 deaths Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Vietnam 1847 in Vietnam 1865 in Vietnam France–Vietnam relations French people imprisoned abroad French prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Vietnam 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Vietnam {{france-reli-bio-stub