François-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne (; 1 March 1819 – 27 January 1908) was a French cardinal 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 ...

and served as the

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

. His cause of canonization has commenced and he has the title of

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

Biography

Early life and priesthood

François-Marie-Benjamin Richard was born in 1819 in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

and was one of eleven children. Richard was educated at the seminary of St Sulpice where he studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from October 1841. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on 21 December 1844 by the

Denis Auguste Affre Denis-Auguste Affre (27 September 179327 June 1848) was a French Catholic who served as Archbishop of Paris from 1840 to 1848. He was killed while trying to negotiate peace during the June Days uprising of 1848. His cause for canonization has co ...

. He served as a parish priest from 1845 to 1846 before he was sent 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 ...

for further studies that spanned from 1846 to 1849. He was later made the Vicar-General of

on 1 August 1850 and occupied that post until 1869.Biography from "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church"
/ref>

Episcopate

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

appointed Richard as the Bishop of Belley on 22 December 1871. He received

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on 11 February 1872 in Paris. Later, in 1875, he was appointed

Titular Archbishop of Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and

Coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

of Paris. In 1886 the death of

Cardinal Guibert Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert (1802, Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône – 1886, Paris) was a French Catholic Archbishop of Paris and Cardinal. He was consecrated by Eugène de Mazenod and was appointed by Pope Gregory XVI as bishop of Viviers in 18 ...

was followed by Richard's succession to the see of Paris.

Cardinalate and death

Le Cardinal Richard mis en bière à Notre-Dame

Pope Leo XIII elevated him into the cardinalate on 24 May 1889 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Via. In January 1900 the trial of the

Assumptionist Fathers The Assumptionists, officialy named the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption ( la, Congregatio Augustinianorum ab Assumptione) abbreviated AA,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (priests and b ...

resulted in the dissolution of their society as an illegal association. The next day an official visit of the archbishop to the fathers was noted by the government as an act of a political character and Richard was officially censured. His attitude was in general exceedingly moderate, he had no share in the extremist policy of the

Ultramontanes Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...

, and throughout the struggle over the law of Associations and the law of Separations he maintained his reasonable temper. Richard participated in the papal conclave of 1903 that saw the election of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

. He presided in September 1906 over an assembly of bishops and archbishops at his palace in the rue de Grenelle, a few days after the

papal encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

forbidding French Catholics to form associations for public worship, but it was then too late for conciliation. In December he gave up the archiepiscopal palace to the government authorities. He was then an old man of nearly ninety, and his eviction evoked great sympathy. Richard died in 1908 of congestion of the lungs and was buried in the cathedral of Notre Dame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Francois 1819 births 1908 deaths Clergy from Nantes Bishops of Belley Archbishops of Paris 20th-century French cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII 19th-century French cardinals 20th-century venerated Christians French Servants of God Bishops appointed by Pope Pius IX