NEW ORLEANS
14
NEW ORLEANS
buis of Galveston. Among the priests were Fathers
Gustave A. Rouxel. later Auxiliary Bishop of New Or-
leans under Archbishop Chapelle, Thomas lleslin,
afterwards Bishop of Natchez, and J. K. Bogaerts,
vicar-gencral under Archbishop Janssens. In IStiO the
Dominican Nuns from Cabra, Ireland, came to New
Orleans to take charge of St. John the Baptist School
and open an academy. In 1804 the Sisters of Mercy
came to the city to assume charge of St. .Mphonsus'
School and .Vsylum and open a convent and boariling-
school, and the Marists were ofF(>r('<l the Church of St.
Michael at Convent. La. On 12 July, lSli4, they as-
sumed charge of Jefferson College founded by the
State in 1S;3.5, and donated to them by Valcour.\ime, a
wealthy planter. The diocese was incorporated on 15
Augvist. 1800, the legal name and title being "The Ro-
man Catholic Church of the Dioce.so of New Orleans".
In ISO" during a terrible epidemic of yellow fever and
cholera. Fathers Spies.sberger and Seelos of the Re-
demptorists died martvTs of charity. Father .Seelos
was regarded as a saint and the cause of his beatifica-
tion has been introduced in Rome (190.5). In 1806,
o^vingto financial trials throughout the South, the di-
ocesan .seminary wasclosed. In Februarj', 1868, .\rch-
bishop Odin founded "The Morning Star" as the offi-
cial organ of the Archdiocese, which it has continued
to be.
During the nine years of Bishop Odin's administra- tion he nearly doubled the number of his clergy and churches. He attended the Council of the Vatican, but was obUged to leave Rome on the entry of the Garibaldian troops. His health was broken and he returned to his native home, .\mbierle, France, where he died on 25 May, 1870. He was born on 25 February, 1801, and entered the Lazarists. He came as a no\"ice to their seminary. The Barrens, in St. Louis, where he completed his theological studies and received ordination (see Galveston, Diocese of). He was an excellent administrator and left his diocese free from debt.
Archbishop Odin was succeeded by the Rev. Napo- leon Joseph Perche, bom at Angers, France, January, 1805, and died on 27 December, 188.3. The latter com- pleted his studies at the Seminary of Beaupre, was or- dained on 19 September, 1829, and sent to Murr near Angers where he worked zealously. In 1837 he came to America with Bishop Flaget and was appointed pastor of Portland. He came to New Orleans with Bishop Blanc in 1841, and he soon became famous in Louis- iana for his eloquence and learning. Archbishop Odin petitioned Rome for the appointment of Father Perche as his coadjutor with the right of succession. His request was granted and, on 1 May, 1870, Father Perche was consecrated in the cathedral of New Or- leans titular Bishop of .\bdera. He was promoted to the see on 25 May, 1870. One of his first acts was the re-establishment of the diocesan seminar>'. The Benedictine Nuns were received into the diocese in 1870.
The Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, a diocesan sisterhood, was founded in the year 1873 by Father Cj-prien Venissat, at Labadieville, to afford education and assistance to the children of families impoverished by the war. In 1875 the Poor Clares made a foimdation, and on 21 November, 1877, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of St. Louis sent two mem- bers to make a foundation in New Orleans, their mon- astery being opened on 11 May, 1878. In 1878 the new parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was organized and placed in charge of the Holy Cross Fathers from Indiana. On 12 October, 1872, the Sisters of Perpet- ual Adoration opened their missions and schools in New Orieans. In 1879 the Holy Cro,ss Fathers opened a college in the lower portion of the city. Owing to the financial difficulties it was ncccs-sarj- to clo.se the di- ocesan .seminary in 18,81. Archbishop Perche was a great scholar, but he lacked administrative abihty. In
his desire to relieve Southern families ruined by the
'war, he gave to all largely and royally, and thus
plunged the diocese into a debt of over $tiOO,000. He
was growing very feeble and an application was made
to Rome for a coadjutor.
Bishop Francis Xavier Leray of Natchitoches was transferred to New Orleans as coadjutor and Apostolic administrator of affairs on 23 October, 1879, and at once set to work to liquidate the immen.se debt. It w:is during the administration of Archbishop Perche and the coadjutorship of Bishop Leray that the Board of Trustees of the cathedral which formerly had caused so much trouble passed out of existence in July. 1881, and transferred all the cathedral property to Arch- bishop Perche and Bishop Leraj- jointly, for the bene- fit and use of the Catholic population. Archbishop Leray was born at Chdteau Giron, Brittany, France, 20 April, 1825. He responded to the appeal for priests for the Diocese of Louisiana in 1S43, and com- pleted his theological studies at the Sulpician seminary in Baltimore. He accompanied Bishop Chanche to Natchez and was ordained by him on 19 Marcli, 1852. He was a most active missionarj' in the Mississippi district and in 1860 when pastor of Vicksburg he brought the Sisters of Mercy from Baltimore to estab- Ush a school there. Several times during his years of activity as a priest he was stricken with yellow fever.
During the Civil War, he ser\-ed as a Con- federate chaplain; and on several occasions he was taken prisoner by the Federal forces but released as soon as the sacred character of his office was estab- Ushed. On the death of Bishop Martin he was ap- pointed to the See of Natchitoches, and consecrated on 22 April, 1877, at Rennes, France; on 23 Octo- ber, 1879, he was appointed coadjutor to Archbishop Perche of New Orleans and Bishop of Janopolis. His most difficult task was the bringing of financial order out of chaos and reducing the enormous debt of the diocese. In this he met with great success. During his administration the debt was reduced by at least S300,(K)0. His health, however, became impaired, and he went to France in the hope of recuperating, and died at Chateau Giron, on 23 September, 1887.
The see remained vacant for nearly a year, Verj' Rev. G. A. Rouxel administering the affairs of the dio- cese, until the Right Rev. Francis Janssens, Bishop of Natchez, was promoted to fill the vacancy on 7 Au- gust, 1888, and took possession on 16 September, 1888. Archbishop Janssens was born at Tillburg, Holland, on 17 October, 1843. At thirteen he began his studies in the seminary at Bois-le-Duc; he re- mained there ten years, and in 1866 entered the Amer- ican College at Louvain, Belgium. He was ordained on 21 December, 1867, and arranged to come to Amer- ica. He arrived at Richmond in September, 1868, and became pa.stor of the cathedral in 1870. He was administrator of the diocese pending the appointment of the Right Rev. James (later Cardinal) Gibbons to the vacant see; Bishop Gibbons appointed him \ncar- general, and five years later when he was appointed to the Archiepiscopal See of Baltimore, Father Janssens became again administrator of the diocese. On 7 April, 1881, the See of Natchez became vacant by the promotion of Right Rev. Wm. Elder as Archbishop of Cincinnati and Father Janssens succeeded, ^^'hile Bishop of Natchez he completed the cathedral com- menced forty years before by Bishop Chanche. Not the least of the difficulties that awaited him as .-Vrch- bishop of New Orleans was the heavy indebtedness resting upon the see and the constant drain thus made which had exhausted the treasurj'. There was no seminarj- and the rapid growth of the population aug- mented the demand for priests. He at once called a meeting of the clergy and prominent citizens, and plans were formulated for the gradual liquidation of the debt of the diocese, which was found to be
