Georges Darboy (16 January 181324 May 1871) was a French
Catholic
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 ...
priest, later
bishop of Nancy then
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 ...
. He was among a group of prominent
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...
s executed as the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
of 1871 was about to be overthrown.
Biography
Darboy was born in
Fayl-Billot,
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.[seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...]
at
Langres
Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est.
History
As the capital o ...
, and was ordained priest in 1836. Transferred to Paris as
almoner
An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '.
History
Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...
of the college of
Henry IV, and honorary canon of
Notre Dame, he became the close friend of
Archbishop Affre and of his successor
Archbishop Sibour
Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour (4 August 1792 – 3 January 1857) was the French Catholic Archbishop of Paris from 1848 to 1857.
Life
Sibour was born at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in Drôme in 1792. After his ordination to the priesthood ...
. He was appointed bishop of
Nancy in 1859, and in January 1863 was raised to the archbishopric of Paris.
Darboy was a strenuous upholder of episcopal independence in the
Gallican sense, and involved himself in a controversy with Rome by his endeavours to suppress the jurisdiction of 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 ...
and other religious orders within his
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
.
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 ...
refused him the
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
's hat, and rebuked him for his liberalism in a letter which was probably not intended for publication.
[ Endnote: See
* ]Joseph-Alfred Foulon
Joseph-Alfred Foulon (29 April 1823 – 23 January 1893) was a French Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon.
Life
Foulon was born in Paris and studied in the Saint-Sulpice Seminary. He was ordained priest on 18 December 1847 in Paris, w ...
(1889)
''Histoire de la Vie et des Œuvres de Mgr. Darboy''
Paris: Librairie Poussielgue Frères.
* Guillermin, J. (1888). ''Vie de Mgr. Darboy''. Paris: Bloud & Barral. He is also known for his opposition in 1868 to
Jacques-Paul Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...
, forbidding him to continue his low-cost books business after the burning of his printing establishment, and suspending him from his priestly functions. At 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 ...
he vigorously maintained the rights of the bishops, and strongly opposed the
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
of
papal infallibility
Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks ''ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the aposto ...
, against which he voted as inopportune. When the dogma had been finally adopted, however, he was one of the first to set the example of submission.
Immediately after his return to Paris the war with
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
broke out, and his conduct during the disastrous year that followed was marked by a devoted heroism which has secured for him an enduring fame. He was active in organizing relief for the wounded at the commencement of the war, remained bravely at his post during the siege, and refused to seek safety by flight during the brief triumph of the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
.
On 4 April 1871, he was arrested by the
Communards
The Communards () were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.
After the suppression of the Commune by the French Army in May 1871, 43,000 Communards ...
as a hostage and confined in
Mazas Prison
The Mazas Prison (French: ''Prison de Mazas'') was a prison in Paris, France.
Designed by architects Émile Gilbert and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe, it was inaugurated in 1850 and located near the Gare de Lyon
The Gare de Lyon, official ...
. The Communards offered to exchange him and several priests for
Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism.
Biography Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848)
Bla ...
, who was being held by the
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
government. He was transferred to
La Roquette Prisons
The La Roquette Prisons (the Grande Roquette and the Petite Roquette) were prisons in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, on both sides of the . Opened in 1830, they were finally closed in 1974. Today the site of la petite Roquette is occupied by , ...
on the advance of the Versailles army, and on 24 May he was shot within the prison along with several other prominent hostages.
The execution was ordered by
Théophile Ferré
Théophile Charles Gilles Ferré (6 May 1845 28 November 1871) was one of the members of the Paris Commune, who authorized the execution of Georges Darboy, the archbishop of Paris, and five other hostages, on 24 May 1871. He was captured by the ...
, who later was executed by firing squad by the French government after the fall of the Commune.
Darboy died in the attitude of blessing and uttering words of forgiveness. His body was recovered with difficulty, and, having been embalmed, was buried with imposing ceremony at public expense on 7 June. He was the third archbishop of Paris to die violently between 1848 and 1871 after
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 ...
(killed 1848) and
Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour
Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour (4 August 1792 – 3 January 1857) was the French Catholic Archbishop of Paris from 1848 to 1857.
Life
Sibour was born at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in Drôme in 1792. After his ordination to the priesthood a ...
(assassinated in 1857).
Works
* ''Œuvres de Saint Denys l'Aréopagite'' (1845).
* ''Les Femmes de la Bible'' (1846–1849).
* ''Les Saintes Femmes'' (1850).
* ''Lettres à Combalot'' (1851).
* ''Jérusalem et la Terre Sainte'' (1852).
* ''L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ'' (1852).
* ''Statistique Religieuse du Diocèse de Paris'' (1856).
* ''Saint Thomas Becket'' (1858).
* ''Du Gouvernement de Soi-même'' (1867).
See also
*
List of works by Eugène Guillaume
The following is a list of works by French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Claude Eugène Guillaume.
Works in cathedrals and churches
Beaux-arts de Paris, l'école nationale supérieure
Guillaume was a pupil of the school and won the 1845 Prix de Rom ...
*
Raoul Rigault
Raoul Adolphe Georges Rigault, (16 January 1846 in Paris, 24 May 1871 also in Paris) was a journalist and French Socialist revolutionary, best known for his role during the Paris Commune of 1871.
He is most notable for his execution of Arch ...
References
Further reading
* Horvath-Peterson, Sandra (1982). "Abbé Georges Darboy's 'Statistique Religieuse du Diocèse de Paris' (1856)," ''The Catholic Historical Review,'' Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 401–450.
* Katz, Philip M. (1994). "'Lessons from Paris': The American Clergy Responds to the Paris Commune," ''Church History,'' Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 393–406.
*
Parsons, Reuben (1901)
"The Clerical Victims of the Commune of 1871."In: ''Studies in Church History,'' Vol. VI. New York: Fr. Pustet & Co., pp. 85–110.
* Price, Lewis C. (1915)
''Archbishop Darboy and Some French Tragedies, 1813-1871.''London: George Allen & Unwin.
*
Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred (1914)
''My Adventures in the Commune, Paris, 1871.''London: Chatto & Windus.
External links
*
Works by Georges Darboy at
Hathi Trust
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darboy, Georges
1813 births
1871 deaths
People from Langres
Bishops of Nancy
Archbishops of Paris
People of the Paris Commune
19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Executed French people
French anti-communists
Executed people from Champagne-Ardenne