Bruchési, Louis Joseph Paul Napoléon
BRUCHÉSI, LOUIS JOSEPH PAUL NAPOLÉON
Second archbishop of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; b. Montreal, Oct. 29, 1855; d. there, Sept. 20, 1939. After early studies with the Sulpicians in his native city, he continued them at Issy and Paris in France and Rome, Italy, receiving a doctorate in theology. With his illustrious fellow student Jacques Della Chiesa (later Benedict XV), he was ordained at St. John Lateran on Dec. 21, 1878. He taught dogma at the Grand Seminary of Quebec, was assigned to the department of parochial affairs, and became secretary to Abp. Edouard C. Fabre of Montreal, whom he succeeded in 1897. During his episcopate the 21st International Eucharistic Congress was held at Montreal (1910), and the branch of Laval University established in Montreal (1876) became independent as the University of Montreal (1920). Bruchési was a noted theologian and orator, known for his lofty and rich thought and elegant style. The last 15 years of his life were ones of inactivity and suffering.
Bibliography: Mandements des évêques de Montréal, v. 13–16. "Éloge funèbre par son successeur Mgr. Georges Gauthier," in La Semaine Religieuse de Montréal 98 (1939) 614–624. j. bruchÉsi, "La Vocation sulpicienne de Monseigneur Bruchési," Mémoires de la Société royale du Canada (1941); Témoinages d'hier (Montreal 1961) 225–301.
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