Jules Jeanmard

Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (August 15, 1879 – February 23, 1957), was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1918 to 1956.

Biography[]

Early childhood and education[]

Jules Jeanmard was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, to Jules and Frances Maria (née Brown) Jeanmard.^[1] He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Bernard Church in his native city.^[2] He then attended St. Joseph Seminary in Gessen and Holy Cross College in New Orleans.^[2] He studied for the priesthood at St. Louis Diocesan Seminary in New Orleans and at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.^[1]

Priestly ministry[]

Jeanmard was ordained a priest in New Orleans on June 10, 1903.^[3] His first assignment was as a curate at St. Louis Cathedral, where he served through the yellow fever epidemic of 1905.^[2] He served as secretary to Archbishop James Blenk from 1906 to 1914, and chancellor of the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 1914 to 1917.^[1] He also served as vicar general for spiritual affairs of the archdiocese.^[2] Following the death of Archbishop Blenk, he served as apostolic administrator of New Orleans from 1917 to 1918.^[4] He then served as apostolic administrator of the newly erected Diocese of Lafayette.^[4]

Episcopate[]

On July 18, 1918, Jeanmard was appointed the first Bishop of Lafayette by Pope Benedict XV.^[3] He received his episcopal consecration on the following December 8 from Archbishop Giovanni Bonzano, with Bishops Theophile Meerschaert and John Laval serving as co-consecrators.^[3] He was the first native Louisianan to become a Catholic bishop.^[5]

During his 38-year tenure, Jeanmard established Immaculata Seminary, St. Mary's Orphan Home, Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House, the Catholic Student Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a retreat wing of the Most Holy Sacrament Convent, a Carmelite monastery, and numerous schools and churches.^[6] He encouraged diocesan-sponsored television programs, religious radio programs in both English and French, and a diocesan newspaper The Southwest Louisiana Register.^[6] He also issued pastoral letters in support of the rights of labor to organize.^[6] In 1943, he was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne by Pope Pius XII in 1943.^[2]

Race relations and retirement[]

In March 1923, when the citizens of Lafayette were on the verge of rioting following a public reading of members of the Ku Klux Klan, Jeanmard encouraged the people to return to their homes.^[4][7] In 1934, he welcomed the first African American priests into the diocese.^[2] He also established a number of separate parishes for African Americans, whom he did not want intimidated or infringed upon by whites.^[6] With financial assistance from Mother Katharine Drexel, he helped establish a number of rural parochial schools for African Americans.^[6] In 1952, He became the first bishop in the Deep South to ordain a Black man to diocesan priesthood when he conferred holy orders upon . In November 1955, he excommunicated two women in Erath after they beat another woman who taught an integrated catechism class.^[4][5]

On March 13, 1956, Jeanmard retired as Bishop of Lafayette; he was appointed titular bishop of Bareta by Pius XII on the same date.^[3] He later died at a hospital in Lake Charles, at age 77.^[4] He is interred at St. John Cathedral in Lafayette.^[2]

Notes[]