Jules Jeanmard
His Excellency, The Most Reverend
Jules Jeanmard
Bishop of Lafayette in Louisianatitular bishop of Bareta
SeeDiocese of Lafayette in Louisiana
In office1918–1956
SuccessorMaurice Schexnayder
Orders
OrdinationJune 10, 1903by Placide Louis Chapelle
ConsecrationDecember 8, 1919by Giovanni Bonzano
Personal details
Born(1879-08-15)August 15, 1879
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, US
DiedFebruary 23, 1957(1957-02-23) (aged 77)
Lake Charles, Louisiana, US
BuriedSt. John Cathedral
DenominationRoman Catholic
ParentsJules and Frances Maria (née Brown) Jeanmard
EducationSt. Joseph SeminaryOur Lady of Holy Cross College
MottoSub tuum praesidium(Under Your protection)
Styles ofJules Benjamin Jeanmard
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (August 15, 1879 – February 23, 1957), was an Americanprelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1918 to 1956.

Biography

Early life

Jules Jeanmard was born on August 15, 1879, in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, to Jules and Frances Maria (née Brown) Jeanmard.[1] He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Bernard Parish in Breaux Bridge.[2] He then attended St. Joseph Seminary in St Benedict, Louisiana and Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans, Louisiana.[2] He studied for the priesthood at St. Louis Diocesan Seminary in New Orleans and at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.[1]

Priestly ministry

Jeanmard was ordained a priest in New Orleans by Archbishop Placide Louis Chapelle for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on June 10, 1903.[3] His first assignment was as a curate at St. Louis Cathedral, where he served through the yellow fever epidemic of 1905.[2] He served as secretary to Archbishop James Blenk from 1906 to 1914, and chancellor of the archdiocese from 1914 to 1917.[1] He also served as vicar general for spiritual affairs of the archdiocese.[2] Following the death of Archbishop Blenk, he served as apostolic administrator of New Orleans from 1917 to 1918.[4] He then served as apostolic administrator of the newly erected Diocese of Lafayette.[4]

Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana

On July 18, 1918, Jeanmard was appointed the first bishop of the new Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana by Pope Benedict XV.[3] He received his episcopalconsecration at the Cathedral of Saint Louis in New Orleans on December 8, 1918, from Archbishop Giovanni Bonzano, with Bishops Theophile Meerschaert and John Laval serving as co-consecrators.[3] He was the first native Louisianan to become a Catholic bishop.[5]

During his 38-year tenure, Jeanmard established the Immaculata Seminary and St. Mary's Orphan Home in Lafayette, Louisiana. He also opened the Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House in Grand Coteau, Louisiana and the Catholic Student Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. Jeanmard's other projects included a retreat wing of the Most Holy Sacrament Convent, a Carmelite monastery, and numerous schools and churches.[6] He encouraged diocesan-sponsored television programs, religious radio programs in both English and French, and a diocesan newspaperThe Southwest Louisiana Register.[6] Jeanmard also issued pastoral letters in support of the rights of labor to organize.[6] In 1943, he was named an assistant at the pontifical throne by Pope Pius XII.[2]

In March 1923, when the citizens of Lafayette were on the verge of rioting following a public reading of members of the Ku Klux Klan, Jeanmard diffused the situation, urging people to return to their homes.[4][7] In 1934, he welcomed the first African-American priests into the diocese, a group of men educated and ordained at St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.[2] Jeanmard also established a number of separate parishes for African-Americans, whom he did not want intimidated or infringed upon by whites.[6]

With financial assistance from Mother Katharine Drexel, Jeanmard helped establish several rural parochial schools for African-Americans.[6] In 1952, he ordained Louis Ledoux, an African-American graduate of St. Augustine's. Jeanmard became the first bishop in the Deep South of the United States to ordain an African-American as a priest. In November 1955, Jeanmard excommunicated two women in Erath, Louisiana, after they beat another woman who taught an integrated catechism class.[4][5]

Retirement and legacy

On March 13, 1956, Jeanmard retired as bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana; he was appointed titular bishop of Bareta by Pope Pius XII on the same date.[3] Jeanmard died on February 23, 1957, at a hospital in Lake Charles, at age 77.[4] He is interred at St. John Cathedral in Lafayette.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ abcCurtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  2. ^ abcdefg"JEANMARD, Jules Benjamin". Louisiana Historical Association. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  3. ^ abcd"Bishop Jules Benjamin Jeanmard". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  4. ^ abcde"BISHOP JEANMARD DIES IN LOUISIANA; Catholic Prelate Banned 2 Women Who Beat Teacher of Integrated Classes". The New York Times. 1957-02-24.
  5. ^ ab"Milestones". TIME Magazine. 1957-03-04. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011.
  6. ^ abcde"Diocese of Lafayette History". Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  7. ^"Louisiana Guardsmen Refuse to Drill Under Klan Captain".
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