Paul J. Girouard, M.S. (December 27, 1898 – February 20, 1964) was an American-born

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

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

of the

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 ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. He served as the Bishop of Morondava from 1955 to 1964.

Biography

Born in Hamilton, Rhode Island, Paul Girouard was ordained a priest on July 26, 1927, for the

Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (M.S. - Missionarium Saletiniensis) are a religious congregation of priests and brothers in the Latin Church. They are named after the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette in France. There is also a para ...

. On December 30, 1954

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

appointed him to be the

Apostolic Prefect An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Morondava. He was then appointed as the first bishop of Morondava on November 7, 1955. He was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Henry O'Brien of

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

on March 7, 1956. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops William Scully of Albany and Russell McVinney of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. Girouard served as the diocesan bishop until his death on February 20, 1964, at the age of 65.

References

1898 births 1964 deaths People from Washington County, Rhode Island Missionaries of La Salette Order 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Madagascar American Roman Catholic missionaries American expatriates in Madagascar Catholics from Rhode Island Roman Catholic bishops of Morondava {{US-RC-bishop-stub