Jean-Louis Verger (20 August 1826 – 30 January 1857) was a French Catholic priest who assassinated

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 ...

, 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 ...

,https://www.telerama.fr/sortir/dans-la-tete-des-criminels-de-paris-jean-louis-verger,-le-pretre-assassin,n6358822.php in January 1857, after the archbishop ordered him to desist from publishing pamphlets against

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because the ...

and 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 the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

. Verger was an opponent of this newly defined doctrine as well as

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the ...

for the clergy. Verger was also a continuous troublemaker, frequently complaining about his assignments, most of which he was unable to accomplish due to his temper. The trial became, in his mind, a sounding board for his notions. He was found guilty on the day of the trial (17 January 1857) and sentenced to death. To the end, Verger had convinced himself that Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

would pardon him. When he was executed by

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

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 30 January 1857, he was in a state of panic and fear due to the failure of the pardon to come.

Sources

1826 births 1857 deaths People from Neuilly-sur-Seine 19th-century French criminals 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests People executed by France by guillotine Executed French people Executed assassins {{crime-bio-stub