Louis Simonneaux

Coat of arms of the bishop

Louis-Paul-Armand Simonneaux , also Louis Simonneaux, (born January 19, 1916 in Servon-sur-Vilaine , Bretagne , France , †  January 22, 2009 in Versailles , France) was Roman Catholic Bishop of Versailles .

Life

Louis Simonneaux studied Catholic theology and philosophy from 1933 to 1935 at the seminary in Rennes and from 1935 to 1937 at the Pontifical Roman Seminary of Rome and French language at the Pontifical Gregorian University . He was a lieutenant in the infantry in World War II and was involved in fighting in Saarland and on the Somme. He was taken prisoner of war on June 18, 1940 and was not released again until the end of the war in June 1945. He was interned in the Oflag IV-D camp in Hoyerswerda, Saxony, and was able to continue his priestly training in the camp through imprisoned priests and philosophers such as Jean Guitton . After his return from Germany, he finished his theology studies at the Institut Catholique de Paris and began a dissertation on Tyrell and modernity.

Simonneaux was ordained a priest in Notre Dame de Paris on March 10, 1946 by Emmanuel Suhard . From 1947 to 1962 he was a student pastor in Rennes and the initiator of the student pilgrimage to Chartres as well as the first pastor of Pax Christi in Rennes. Cardinal Clément-Émile Roques appointed him Vicar General in Rennes in 1962 and head of the catechumenate in public education, schools and universities, and numerous other special assignments. 1963 he was by Paul VI. appointed monsignor .

In 1967 Pope Paul VI appointed him . to the Bishop of Versailles. He was ordained bishop on November 26, 1967, by the Archbishop of Rennes and later cardinal, Paul Gouyon ; Co -consecrators were Jean-Pierre-Georges Dozolme , Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay, and James Hagan , Bishop of Corbeil. He significantly rebuilt and expanded the diocese of Versailles, especially after the Second Vatican Council .

He was a member of the Committee on Schools and Universities (1967-76) and the Committee on Family (1976-88) of the French Bishops' Conference . In 1980 he was a participant in the Roman Synod on the Family. 1970 to 1974 he was a member of the Permanent Council of Bishops. Due to his state of health, John Paul II placed the Bishop of Ajaccio, Jean-Charles Thomas , at his side as coadjutor in 1986 . In 1988 his resignation was granted by Pope John Paul II.

Fonts

• Louis Simonneaux: Dr Louis Simonneaux, ... Notice historique de l'abbaye de Boquen, Plénée-Jugon , Impr. De l'Ouest-Eclair 1936
• Conseils pratiques pour l'élevage des enfants au biberon, par le Dr L. Simonneaux , Impr. De Oberthur 1892 (new edition)

Web links

• Entry on Louis Simonneaux on catholic-hierarchy.org
• "Mgr Louis Simonneaux est décédé" , Diocese of Versailles, January 25, 2009 (French)

predecessor	Office	successor
Alexandre-Charles Renard	Bishop of Versailles 1967–1988	Jean-Charles Thomas