Joseph-Marie-Pélagie Havard,

M.E.P. 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 ...

, (2 November 1790 - 7 July 1838) was a 19th-century

Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...

who worked as a missionary in Vietnam.

Life

Havard was born in 1790 in

Thourie Thourie (; br, Tourig) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Geography The '' ruisseau de la Couyère'' forms all of the commune's western border, then flows into the Semnon, which forms all of its ...

, in the ancient Province of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, during the final days of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

. Nothing is recorded of his upbringing or how he fared during the turmoil of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

. Some time about 1815, Havard entered the seminary of the

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 ...

to give his service to the Church in Asia. After completing his studies there, he was sent to Vietnam, where he received Holy Orders on 16 June 1821 from Bishop Jacques-Benjamin Longer, M.E.P., who had served as the

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

of the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Tonkin since 1787. Havard was appointed Longer's

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

in March 1828, for which office he was named the

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Castoria. He automatically succeeded to the office upon Longer's death on 8 February 1831. Havard oversaw the Catholic Church in Vietnam during a time of major persecution under the Emperor

Minh Mang {{Orphan, date=December 2021 Minh (Chữ Nôm: 明) is a popular unisex given name of Vietnamese origin, written using the Chinese character (明) meaning "bright", and is also popular among other East Asian names. The Chinese name Ming has the sa ...

. He had expected to be succeeded as Vicar Apostolic by

Pierre Dumoulin-Borie Pierre-Rose-Ursule Dumoulin-Borie (20 February 1808 – 24 November 1838) was a French Catholic missionary priest and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He is a Catholic saint, canonized in 1988 along with other Vietnamese Martyrs. ...

, M.E.P., who was appointed as his coadjutor in 1836. But Dumoulin-Borie was arrested in 1838, before the news had reached the missions, which destroyed this plan. When the news did reach Hanoi, he was immediately put to death by order of the emperor . Havard died in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

in 1838, being succeeded by Pierre-André Retord, M.E.P.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havard, Joseph-Marie-Pelagie 1790 births 1838 deaths 19th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Breton bishops Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries People from Ille-et-Vilaine Roman Catholic missionaries in Vietnam 19th-century executions by Vietnam French people executed abroad 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Vietnam