Mathieu-Victor Balaïn

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Mathieu-Victor Balaïn (born May 27, 1828 in Saint-Victor , † May 13, 1905 in Auch ) was a French Roman Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Nice and Archbishop of Auch .

life and work

The wafer from the Vivarais

Mathieu-Victor Félicien Balaïn attended a school of the Congregation of St. Basil's Priests in Annonay . At the age of 18, he moved to the Sulpizian seminary in Viviers . Through Bishop Joseph Hippolyte Guibert he discovered the Congregation of the Oblates of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and entered the congregation in Notre-Dame-de-l'Osier in 1851 . In 1852 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Eugene of Mazenod .

Corsica. Fréjus. Nice

The order sent him to Corsica , where he first taught theology at the seminary of Ajaccio , from 1858 as head of the diocesan school of Vico . From 1859 to 1878 he headed the Fréjus seminary and was also vicar general of Bishop Joseph-Antoine-Henri Jordany (1798-1887). Against his will, he was appointed Bishop of Nice in 1878 and consecrated in Fréjus by Cardinal Guibert.

Bishop of Nice

As the first French bishop of Nice, he had the delicate task of integration after the annexation of the diocese territory to France (1860). As a patriot, he forbade the use of Italian in the pulpit. As a man of dialogue and reconciliation, he avoided any confrontation with the anti-religious republic, but had to struggle with the secular change in society, which made the reorganization of religious education and (in view of dwindling vocations) the training of priests necessary. He laid the foundation stone for a modern seminary and in 1886 managed the difficult integration of the former diocese of Grasse , which until then (disregarding the boundaries of the department ) belonged to the diocese of Fréjus, which was well known to him, into his diocese.

Bishop of Auch and Death

From 1896 until his death he was Archbishop of Auch . He died at the age of 76. He was a member of the Legion of Honor since 1879 .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Balaïn, Mathieu-Victor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balaïn, Mathieu-Victor Félicien
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Roman Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Nice and Archbishop of Auch
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Victor
DATE OF DEATH May 13, 1905
Place of death Also