Augustin Verot

Jean Marcel Pierre Auguste Vérot, known commonly as Augustin Verot, (May 1804 – June 10, 1876) was a French-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida (1870–1876). He previously served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia (1861–1870) and as the vicar apostolic of Florida (1857-1870).

Biography

Early life

Augustin Verot was born on May 23, 1805, in Le Puy-en-Velay in France. He studied at St-Sulpice seminary in Paris.

Verot was ordained into the priesthood for the Society of Priests of Saint Sulpice by Archbishop Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen on September 20, 1828. He subsequently joined the Society of Saint-Sulpice and in 1830 immigrated to the United States, working in Baltimore. Verot taught science, philosophy, and theology at St. Mary's College in Baltimore and at its seminary until 1853. He served as pastor of Saint Paul Catholic Parish in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland from 1853 to 1858.

Vicar Apostolic of Florida

On December 11, 1857, Pope Pius IX appointed Verot as vicar apostolic of Florida. He was consecrated as titular bishop of Danabe on April 25, 1858, by Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Baltimore), Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.

Since the new vicarate had only three priests, Verot travelled to France in 1859 to recruit. He succeeded in bring back seven priests. Verot also secured funding to repair churches in St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Key West, all in Florida. He erected new churches at Tampa, Fernandina Beach, Palatka, Florida, Palatka, Mandarin, and Tallahassee, and staffed them with resident pastors. Verot also built Catholic schools and introduced religious communities to staff them. Five sisters from the Order of Mercy came from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, Diocese of Hartford in Connecticut to open a girls' academy. Three Christian Brothers from Canada opened a boys' school in St. Augustine.

Bishop of Savannah

On July 13, 1861, Pope Pius IX appointed Verot as bishop of the Diocese of Savannah. However, he also remained as vicar apostolic of Florida.

During the American Civil War, Verot condemned the looting of the Catholic church at Amelia Island, Amelia Island, Florida, by Union Army troops. He personally evacuated several Sisters of Mercy from Jacksonville to Savannah through the battle zone in Georgia. After the war, Verot published a pastoral letter urging Catholics to "put away all prejudice ...against their former servants". He also advocated a national coordinator for evangelization among African-Americans, and brought in French sisters from LePuy to work with them.

Bishop of St. Augustine

On March 11, 1870, Pope Pius IX elevated the Florida vicarate into the Diocese of St. Augustine and named Verot as its first bishop.

Verot was amongst the first to advocate St. Augustine as a health resort, as well as culture of products which have since become valuable. He made an annual visitation of the whole diocese, establishing churches and schools. He worked revive the memory of Florida's early martyrs, Spanish as well as French.

Verot's best-known writings are his ''Pastoral on Slavery'' and his ''Catechism.'' He took a prominent part in the Plenary Council of Baltimore and the First Vatican Council between 1869 and 1870. At the Council, Verot called for the condemnation of the heresy that African-Americans had no souls and were not human beings.

Views on slavery

In January 1861, just before the start of the American Civil War, Verot delivered a sermon defending the rights of the Southern States and the legal basis of slavery in the United States. He also condemned the "false and unjust principles of Abolitionism" and the Know-Nothing movement that persecuted Catholics throughout the nation. His sermon was published and distributed throughout the Southern United States as a Confederate tract. For this sermon, Verot earned the nickname "Rebel Bishop".

However, in the same sermon, Verot condemned the international slave trade (consistent with Pope Gregory XVI's decree of 1839). He also called for legal protections for free African-American. Verot also wanted enslaved people to be allowed to choose their own marriage partners; to be treated with justice, fairness and morality; to receive adequate food, clothing and shelter; and the means to practice their own religion and be instructed on it.Gannon at p. 171

See also

* Catholic Church hierarchy
* Catholic Church in the United States
* Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
* List of Catholic bishops of the United States
* Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

References

External links

New Advent Encyclopedia entry on Bishop Verot

Roman Catholic Diocese of SavannahRoman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine
*

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verot, Augustin
1804 births
1876 deaths
French emigrants to the United States
Seminary of Saint-Sulpice (France) alumni
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
St. Mary's Seminary and University faculty
Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Augustine
Roman Catholic bishops of Savannah, Georgia
Sulpician bishops