Louis Querbes

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Memorial plaque to Louis Querbes in the Saint-Nizier church in Lyon

Louis Querbes (born August 21, 1793 in Lyon , † September 1, 1859 in Vourles ) was a French Roman Catholic clergyman and founder of the order. He is at the beginning of the Viatorists .

life and work

The founder of the Viatorists

Querbes grew up in the Saint-Nizier parish in Lyon , entered the Saint-Irénée seminary in 1812 (and studied with Jean-Claude Colin , Marcellin Champagnat and Jean-Marie Vianney ), was ordained a priest in 1816 and was chaplain in the Church of Saint -Nizier. From 1822 until the end of his life in 1859 he was pastor in Vourles (south of Lyon). Querbes recognized that the spiritual desert left on the countryside by the French Revolution could not be pushed back by the priesthood alone, but that the help of the laity was essential. He therefore founded an order of clergy, which he named after Saint Viator of Lyon and for which he received the approval of the king (1829), the bishop (1831) and the pope (1838). The association of lay people was rejected by the Pope. The Viatorist was a (celibate) teacher, catechist and sexton at the same time and was trained in a kind of seminar. The members initially worked in the greater Lyon area, from 1851 also in the Aveyron department .

Sending out the Viatorists

Missionary bishops invited the community to send them overseas. In 1841 some Viatorists went to Saint-Louis (Missouri, USA), but the group broke up. In 1844 others went to Sirdhana in the diocese of Agra in India, but failed because of the climate. Only the clerics sent to Joliette , Canada in 1846 were successful. In 1865 the Province of Canada sent the first Viatorists to the United States at Bourbonnais, Illinois (Established in the Province of Chicago in 1882).

Viatorist modernity

At the death of the founder there were four provinces (Vourles, Saint-Flour , Rodez and Canada) with 300 members. In the 20th century the focus of the community shifted from France to North America. The Second Vatican Council demonstrated the modernity of the concept of the union of lay people and clergy. The community currently consists of 479 religious (about half priests) and 289 associated lay people (including women). It works in 16 countries on four continents.

Places of remembrance

Since 2015, the Generalate of the Order (which was previously in Rome) is back in Vourles on the street that bears the name of the founder (Center Louis-Querbes, 3, rue Louis Querbes, there is also a museum dedicated to him). There is a street in Saint-Genis-Laval , schools in Vourles and a high school in Rodez is named after him. An urban park in Joliette bears his name. A plaque in the Saint-Nizier church in Lyon commemorates his work.

His beatification process has started. Pope Francis awarded him the heroic degree of virtue in October 2019 .

Works

  • Cantiques tirés des meilleurs recueils, à l'usage des paroisses des missions, des retraites, des catéchismes, des maisons d'éducation, et des familles chrétiennes. Rusand, Lyon 1825.
  • Manuel nécessaire des Clercs de S. Viateur . Briday, Lyon 1861.

literature

  • Le P. Louis Querbes, fondateur de l'institut des Clercs de Saint-Viateur (1793-1859). Un ouvrier de la restauration religieuse . Édition de la bonne Presse, Paris 1928.
  • Robert Bonnafous: Louis Querbes (1793-1859) et les Catéchistes de Saint-Viateur . Médiaspaul, Paris / Éd. paulines, Montréal 1993.
  • Robert Bonnafous: Un fondateur contrarié, Louis Querbes (1793-1859) . 3 vols. Clercs de Saint-Viateur, Vourles 2004.
  • Léo Bonneville: Louis Querbes. Fondateur des Clercs de Saint-Viateur . Éditions Bellarmin, Montréal 1989.
  • Léon Cristiani (1879–1971): Le Père Louis Querbes fondateur de l'institut des Clercs de Saint-Viateur, 1793–1859 . Fayard, Paris 1958.
  • Yannick Essertel: L'aventure missionnaire lyonnaise 1815–1962 . Cerf, Paris 2001, pp. 72-74.
  • Pierre Robert: Vie du père Louis Querbes fondateur de l'institut des Clercs de Saint-Viateur, 1793-1859 . Librairie A. Dewit, Brussels 1922.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, October 3, 2019, accessed October 4, 2019 (Italian).
personal data
SURNAME Querbes, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Roman Catholic clergyman and founder of the order
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH Lyon
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1859
Place of death Vourles