Félix Antoine Philibert Dupanloup (3 January 180211 October 1878) was a French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Orléans from 1849 to 1878. He was among the leaders of

Liberal Catholicism Liberal Catholicism was a current of thought within the Catholic Church influenced by classical liberalism and promoting the separation of church and state, freedom of religion in the civic arena, expanded suffrage, and broad-based education. ...

in France.

Biography

Dupanloup was born at Saint-Félix, in Upper Savoy, (which at the time was part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia rather than France) an illegitimate son of Prince Camillo Borghese. In his earliest years he was confided to the care of his brother, a priest in the diocese of Chambéry. In 1810 he was sent to a ''pensionnat ecclésiastique'' at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Thence he went to the seminary of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in 1813, and was transferred to the seminary of Saint Sulpice at Paris in 1820. In 1825 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest, and was appointed vicar of the Madeleine at Paris. For a time he was tutor to the

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and 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 ...

lauding his work there, and calling him ''Apostolus juventutis''. He was elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1854, occupying the thirty-eighth chair and leading the academy's "religious party", in which capacity he manoeuvred against the election of

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

intellectuals. Dupanloup resigned in 1875 after

Émile Littré Émile Maximilien Paul Littré (; 1 February 18012 June 1881) was a French lexicographer, freemason and philosopher, best known for his , commonly called . Biography Littré was born in Paris. His father, Michel-François Littré, had been a gu ...

, an agnostic, was elected to the academy. His imposing height, his noble features,his brilliant eloquence, as well as his renown for zeal and charity, made him a prominent feature in French life for many years. Crowds of persons attended his addresses, on whom his energy, command of language, powerful voice and impassioned gestures made a profound impression. When made bishop of Orléans in 1849, he pronounced a fervid

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

, which attracted attention in England as well as France. Joan of Arc was later canonized, due partly to Dupanloup's efforts. Before this, he had been sent by Archbishop Aifre to Rome, and had been appointed Roman prelate and protonotary apostolic. For thirty years he remained a notable figure in France, doing his utmost to arouse his countrymen from religious indifference. He was a distinguished educationist who fought for the retention of the Latin classics in the schools and instituted the celebrated catechetical method of St Sulpice. Among his publications are: * (1850) * (3 vols., 1866) * (1861, 4 vols.) * (1872), a counterblast to Renan's . In ecclesiastical policy his views were moderate. Both before and during the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

, he opposed the definition of the dogma of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

as inopportune, but after the definition was among the first to accept the

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

.Cross, Robert D. (1958). "Catholicism and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Europe", in ''The Emergence of Liberal Catholicism in America''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Dupanloup died on 11 October 1878 at the château of La Combe-de-Lancey.

Memory

In the work known as '' Illustrissimi'', a collection of letters written by

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal h ...

when he was Patriarch of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Dupanloup is one of the "recipients" of the letters. There are 40 letters in all, mainly to people in Italian history and fiction, but also to internationally well known fictional and historical characters such as

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

, and

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. Each of the letters tend to be droll and witty, but cleverly turned into a short sermon in order to make a point, whether it is on fashion, pornography, capitalism, or the communications industry. In his book '' My Life and Loves'', volume III, chapter 15,

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1856 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

tells of an anecdote he told Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales, about the bishop:

Works

* (1845). . Lecoffre et Cie. * (1860). . J. Lecoffre et Cie. * (1860). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1861). . R. Ruffet. * (1865). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1866). . Paris: Charles Douniol et Cie. * (1866). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1866). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1867). . H. Plon. * (1869). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1869). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1872). . Paris: Charles Douniol et Cie. volumes ** . ** . ** . * (1875). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1878). . Paris: . * (1879). . Paris: Charles Douniol. * (1920). . Paris: P. Téqui.

Works in English translation

* (1860)
''The Papal Sovereignty''
London: Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Company. * (1869). ''Studious Women''. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. * (1869). ''Joan of Arc''. London: Burns and Oates. * (1875)
''The Child''
Boston: Thomas B. Noonan & Co. * (1875). ''A Study of Freemasonry''. London: Burns and Oates (American edition
Newark, N.J.: J.J. O'Connor & Co, 1876
. * (1890)
''The Ministry of Catechising''
London: Griffith Farran & Co. * (1891)
''The Ministry of Preaching''
London: Griffith Farran, Okeden & Welsh.

Selected articles

* (1867)
"Learned Women and Studious Women,"Part II
''The Catholic World'', Vol. VI, pp. 24–43, 209–226.

Notes

References

*Lagrange, François (1885). ''Life of Monseigneur Dupanloup: Bishop of Orleans''. London: Chapman & Hall. * Mirecourt, Eugène de (1867)
"Dupanloup (Monseigneur)."
In: ''Portraits et Silhouettes au XIXe Siècle''. Paris: E. Dentu. *Nielsen, Fredrik (1906)
''The History of the Papacy in the XIXth Century''
London: John Murray. *Peletier, Victor (1876)
''Monseigneur Dupanloup''
Paris: Haton Librairie. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupanloup, Felix 1802 births 1878 deaths People from Haute-Savoie 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Bishops of Orléans French educational theorists French Roman Catholic writers Liberal Catholicism Members of the Académie Française French life senators