Church Roman Catholic Church Successor John Stephen Michaud See Burlington Ordination July 13, 1840 | Predecessor none Consecration October 30, 1853 Name Louis Goesbriand | |
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In office October 30, 1853—November 3, 1899 Born August 4, 1816
Saint-Urbain, Finistere, France ( 1816-08-04 ) Died 1899, Burlington, Vermont, United States Books Catholic Memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire: With Sketches of the Lives of Rev. Wm. Henry Hoyt, and Fanny Allen. Also with Accounts Heretofore Unpublished of the Lives of Rev. Daniel Barber, Rev. Horace Barber, S. J., and Jerusha Barber, Named in Religion Sister Mary Augustin. Also with Many of Their Letters | ||
Louis Joseph Marie Théodore de Goesbriand (August 4, 1816 – November 3, 1899) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Burlington in the United States from 1853 until his death in 1899.
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Early career
Goesbriand was born in Saint-Urbain, Finistère, and studied at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M., on July 13, 1840. After arriving in the United States, he did pastoral work in the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1840 to 1847 and then in the Diocese of Cleveland (where he served as vicar general) until 1853.
Elevation
On July 29, 1853, Louis de Goesbriand was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, by Pope Pius IX. He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 30 from Archbishop Gaetano Bedini, with Bishops John McCloskey and Louis Amadeus Rappe serving as co-consecrators. He began his new diocese with five priests, ten churches, and about 20,000 Catholics.
Career as Bishop
In 1855, he went to Europe in January to secure priests from Ireland and his native France, and held the first diocesan synod during the following October. There were at least 50 priests and 30 new parishes in the Burlington Diocese by the end of his episcopate. He also attended the Plenary Councils of Baltimore (1866, 1884) and the First Vatican Council (1869–1870). In 1893, he trusted the active administration of the diocese to his coadjutor, Bishop John Stephen Michaud. Between 1891 and 1897, Goesbriand translated the works of Pierre Chaignon, S.J. from French to English, including Meditations for the Use of the Secular Clergy and The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated.
Death
Bishop de Goesbriand later died at St. Joseph's Orphan Home age 83, as the oldest bishop in the United States. He is buried at Resurrection Park in South Burlington.