Paul Alphéran de Bussan was a French

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

archbishop who served as

Bishop of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta (Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year 60 A ...

from 1728 till 1757.

Early life

Born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

, France on 28 October 1686 of noble parentage, Paul Alphéran de Bussan graduated in Bachelor of Theology from the University of Aix in 1705. He soon travelled to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and lived with his uncle, Melchior Alpheran de Bussan, a Conventual Chaplain of Obedience of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. His brother Jean-Melchior Alphéran was also a member of the order of St John and became abbot of

Sept-Fons Abbey Sept-Fons Abbey, Notre-Dame de Sept-Fons or Notre-Dame de Saint-Lieu Sept-Fons is a Trappist monastery at Diou in Bourbonnais in the diocese of Moulins in France. Around ninety monks currently live in the monastery, many of whom are novices sen ...

in 1755. The ship on which the 19-year-old Paul was travelling was caught in heavy storms and had to seek shelter in St. Paul's Bay where he came ashore.

Priesthood

Paul was ordained priest by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmeri on 8 December 1710. He was received as Conventual Chaplain in the Langue of Provence. He was also prior of the convent church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte in

in 1720. He was appointed Secretary for French Affairs by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena.

Bishop

On 8 March 1728

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

appointed Paul Alphéran de Bussan as

."Archbishop Paul Alpheran de Bussan, O.S.Io.Hieros"
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 03 February 2015. He was consecrated by the same Pope on 14 March that year. In 1733 Bishop Alphéran de Bussan built the

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

seminary, now the Cathedral Museum. On 19 September 1746 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tamiathis. In 1752 he financed the printing of a Maltese translation of Cardinal Bellarmino’s Catholic Catechism which was distributed to every parish in

Death

Archbishop Alphéran de Bussan died on 20 April 1757 at his Mdina residence. He was buried in the Cathedral crypt but his heart was interred in the chapel of the seminary he had built. On the initiative of the Cathedral Chapter, a memorial baroque marble slab was installed in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of the Cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussan, Paul Alpheran de 1684 births 1757 deaths French Roman Catholic titular bishops People from Aix-en-Provence Bishops of Malta