François-Jean-Marie Laouënan (19 November 1868 – 29 September 1892) was a member of

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

and was the archbishop of Archdiocese of Pondicherry. On 24 July 1868 he was appointed to succeed Bishop

Joseph-Isidore Godelle Joseph-Isidore Godelle (7 March 1806 – 15 July 1867) was a missionary of Paris Foreign Missions Society and was the vicar apostolic of Pondicherry from 21 March 1861 until his death on 15 July 1867. He was born in Hannapes, Ardennes on 7 ...

as Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry. He was consecrated as a bishop on 11 October 1868. When

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

established Catholic hierarchy in India, Mgr. Laouënan was appointed as Archbishop of the same see on 25 November 1886. He was the Archbishop until his death on 29 September 1892. He was succeeded by Joseph-Adolphe Gandy.

Early life

Laouënan was born on 19 November 1822 in

Lannion Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants. Climate Lannion has a ...

, Côtes-du-Nord. After having studied at the minor seminaries of Plouguernével and

Tréguier Tréguier (; br, Landreger) is a port town in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is the capital of the province of Trégor. Geography Tréguier is located 36 m. N.W. of Saint-Brieuc by road. The port is situat ...

, he spent a year in the Seminary of Saint-Brieuc. Later he entered the Seminary of the MEP on 29 September 1843. He was ordained as a Priest on 6 June 1846. He was sent on 1 August to Pondicherry. In January 1847 he was appointed as a teacher at the colonial college of this city. Upon his own request he was transferred to Kumakonam in May 1857 by Bishop Bonnand. From 1859 to 1862, he accompanied Bishop Bonnand and Bishop Charbonnaux on the Apostolic visitation of the missions of India. Based on the experience he gained in those travels, he authored the book: ''Du Brahmanisme Et de Ses Rapports Avec Le Judaisme Et Le Christianisme.'' (Brahmanism and its relation to Judaism and Christianity) which he published in 1885 at the Académie française at prix Bordin. After returning to Pondicherry, he directed the Seminary of the mission, and in 1866, resumed his former duties as the principal of colonial college.

As Vicar Apostolic

After the death of Mgr.

in 1867, Laouënan was recommended as his successor. on 5 June 1868,

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 him as the Titular Bishop of Flaviopolis and Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry. He wrote to the Pope expressing his unwillingness to assume this post. But pope rejected his plea. He was consecrated at the

Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry Immaculate Conception Cathedral (french: Cathédrale de l'Immaculée-Conception de Pondichéry, ta, தூய அமலோற்பவ அன்னை பேராலயம்) is the cathedral mother church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese ...

on 11 October 1868 by Bishop Charbonnaux. In 1870 he attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

with Bishop Charbonnaux and Bishop Dépommier. He had been appointed as the 19th member of the commission of the Eastern Rite and Missions in January of that year. He also collaborated actively on the reforming of the regulations of Paris Foreign Missions Society. Returning to his mission, he applied himself for development works. He rebuilt the seminary, and develop Saint-Joseph's College in Cuddalore. Under his leadership and conversions surged in-spite of ongoing famine; Many consider this surge is due to poor hungry people attracted to the charitable benefits of the Missionaries. In 1874 he drafted the "Statutes of the Vicariate of Pondicherry". In 1879 this was revised and published as the "Directory of the Mission". It had directives concerning the duties of missionaries and their attitude concerning the duties of the missionaries and their attitude towards customs of the country, especially those concerning Hindu marriages. In 1883, citing his frail health he requested for a coadjutor. Mgr Gandy was appointed as his coadjutor. He consecrated him on 9 September of the same year.

As Archbishop

He took a very active part in the negotiations which preceded the

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

, signed on 23 June 1886 between Rome and Portugal, for the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the India. On this occasion, he was called to Rome by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

in 1884; He proposed solutions with such a skill and wisdom that in 1886 Pope Leo XIII made him a Roman count and

Assistant at the Pontifical Throne The Bishops-Assistant at the Pontifical Throne were ecclesiastical titles in the Roman Catholic Church. It designated prelates belonging to the Papal Chapel, who stood near the throne of the Pope at solemn functions. They ranked immediately below ...

. The thorny issue ended with the establishment of the hierarchy in India, which was decreed by the bull ''Humanae salutis'', dated 1 September 1886. On 25 November by the brief ''Apostolatus officium'', Pope transferred the incumbent Bishops of titular sees in India to respective churches. Laouënan was appointed Archbishop of Pondicherry, and on 17 March 1887 he received the pallium. On 21 February 1886 Laouënan with the permission of

, declared Our Lady of Lourdes, Villianur as a Marian Shrine and canonically crowned the statue there in the pope's name. In 1888, he participated in the Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Folgoët. He is depicted along with other participants in the stained glass window at the Basilica of Our Lady of Folgoët. His coat of arms is depicted too.

Death

In 1891, his health gave way and during the month of march, he got several strokes of cerebral congestion. He went to France hoping for a cure, but he got worse and died at the Sanatorium of Montbeton on 29 September 1892.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laouenan, Francois-Jean-Marie 1868 births 1892 deaths Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India French Roman Catholic missionaries Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries Clergy from Paris French Roman Catholic bishops in Asia Roman Catholic archbishops of Pondicherry and Cuddalore Roman Catholic missionaries in India French expatriates in India