Barthélemy Bruguière (February 12, 1792 – October 20, 1835) was the first Apostolic Vicar of Korea and former Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Siam."Bishop Barthélemy Bruguière, M.E.P."
David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 4, 2017

Biography

Bruguière was born in Raissac-d'Aude,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and studied at the seminary of

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

. He was ordained a priest on December 23, 1815 and then taught at the seminary for a decade. Wanting to do missionary work, he joined the

La Société des Missions Etrangères The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands. The Society of For ...

(MEP) with the intention of going to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In 1827, after arriving in Asia, he was instead assigned to the

Apostolic Vicariate of Siam The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok (, ) is a Latin archdiocese in Thailand. The bishop's seat is the Assumption Cathedral, Bangkok. History In 1662, the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam was created Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens (June 4, 1762 – March 30, 1834) was the Vicar Apostolic of Siam. Biography Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens was born in Lagnes, France on 4 Jun 1762. In 1786, he was ordained a priest in La Société des Missions Etran ...

had only one missionary priest. He learned the

Thai language Thai,In or Central Thai (historically Siamese;Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6 ...

but soon found out the majority of Christians were typically not of Thai ancestry but rather Khmer,

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, and those of mixed Portuguese-Asian background; as the Thai Buddhists were not as amenable to conversion, he focused his efforts on the minority groups. Bruguière taught at the school at the Church of the Assumption for several years and then after repeated requests by Florens for a replacement, he was appointed by

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII (; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death in February 1829. ...

on February 5, 1828, the Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Siam and Titular Bishop of ''Capsus.'' He was consecrated bishop on June 29, 1829 by Bishop

Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens (June 4, 1762 – March 30, 1834) was the Vicar Apostolic of Siam. Biography Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens was born in Lagnes, France on 4 Jun 1762. In 1786, he was ordained a priest in La Société des Missions Etran ...

, Vicar Apostolic of Siam. In 1830, after two new missionary priests arrived in Bangkok (Claude-Antoine Deschavannes and

Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, M.E.P. (; 24 October 1805 – 18 June 1862) was vicar apostolic of Eastern Siam. Born in Combertault, France, he was consecrated as a priest of the Société des Missions Etrangères on 31 May 1828. On 3 June 1838 he w ...

), Bruguière moved to

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in 1831 where he taught at the MEP-run General College along with Jacques-Honoré Chastan, Jean-Baptiste Boucho, Jean Pierre Barbe, and

Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (Born: 23 March 1796 – Died: 21 September 1839), affectionately known in Korea as Bishop Laurentius Bum Sehyeong () was a Roman Catholic French bishop in Asia. He was most notable for his Christian missionary wor ...

. An influx of funding and MEP missionaries into the region lessened the need for him to remain in Siam and it was proposed that he go to Korea and establish a new mission. Bishop Florens supported the mission despite the fact that it would leave him without a coadjutor when he died. On September 9, 1831, Bruguière was appointed the first Apostolic Vicar of Korea by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

. In 1835, he sailed from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

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and then to China first to

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

then to

Fujian Province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...

and finally to

Shanxi Province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...

. Due to persecutions against Christians in China and political changes in Korea, he first took shelter amongst the Christian population in Xiwanzi where he met MEP missionary Pierre-Philibert Maubant who volunteered for the Korea mission. On October 7, 1835, they set out but before he could reach Korea, Bruguière became sick and died on October 20, 1835. Maubant would later be joined by Jacques-Honoré Chastan and Laurent Joseph Marius Imbert where they would eventually be arrested and martyred. In 1931, Bruguière's remains were moved and reburied in a cemetery in Seoul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruguiere, Barthelemy 1792 births 1835 deaths Bishops appointed by Pope Leo XII Bishops appointed by Pope Gregory XVI Apostolic vicars of Siam Paris Foreign Missions Society bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Seoul