Jean-Baptiste Kelly
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Jean-Baptiste Kelly (5 October 1783 – 24 February 1854) was a
Early life and education
Kelly's success had humble beginnings. He was born in
Plessis had also furthered his own career, becoming coadjutor bishop of Quebec. In 1803, Kelly had a chance to repay Plessis' investment in him, becoming Plessis' assistant secretary. Two years later, when Plessis was made bishop, Kelly served as diocesan secretary. The next year, 1806, Kelly left his mentor, and Quebec City, to work under François Cherrier, Vicar General at Saint-Denis, a town south of Montreal (and, coincidentally, where Kelly's former assistant Papineau would win a major Rebel victory three decades later). Cherrier was also impressed by Kelly, describing him as "his charming lieutenant vicar".[2] On 9 November 1806, Plessis ordained his protégée as a full Catholic priest.
Priesthood
Kelly's life as a priest was by no means carefree. He spent much of his life as a priest in difficult areas. In Plessis' opinion, hardship postings helped develop character and maturity in the cadre of young priests he had recruited.
Madawaska
Kelly found himself (and four of his sisters, whom he brought with him) on a mission to
Kelly spent the period addressing these issues, learning
Saint-Denis
That October, Kelly returned to Saint-Denis upon Cherrier's death. Saint-Denis was no Madawaska; Kelly found a well-maintained, prosperous church. He busied himself with collecting funds for, and then implementing, its remodeling. He also attempted to revive the church's
In 1811, Bernard-Claude Panet and Kelly toured Quebec from La Malbaie to Quebec City. The War of 1812 brought two American invasions into Lower Canada over the next two years. Kelly also made a tour of Upper Canada with his mentor in 1816.
William Henry/Saint-Pierre
Those six years would be the most comfortable for Kelly. In September 1817, Plessis once again decided a new challenge was in order. Kelly was posted to the large
Only a year into his new position, Kelly was given responsibility for Île du Pads (Dupas) and Drummondville in another of Plessis' shows of confidence in him. Kelly (perhaps ironically, given his surname), especially objected to Drummondville's Irish population, in part out of his French Canadian nationalist tendencies. Nevertheless, he oversaw the building of a church there, Saint-Frédéric, completed in 1822. "The Protestants are jealous of it, theirs will never look as good as this one."[4] In 1824 Drummondville was given into the spiritual care of a John Holmes, but Kelly maintained authority over Île du Pads.
Kelly maintained his interest in building Catholic educational institutions. Along with Plessis, he participated in a boycott of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning. In contrast to his experience in Saint-Denis, Kelly's Saint-Pierre's educational project bore fruit. An English Catholic school opened in 1831.
Plessis died in 1825, and so did not live to see Kelly raised to archpriest. The ceremony was performed in 1835 by Joseph Signay, successor to Panet as archbishop of Quebec.
European travel
Kelly spent some of 1842 and 1843 in
Kelly blamed the failures of the trip on the Montreal
Return
Kelly returned home in August, to be named vicar-general by Bourget. Kelly also received a canonship of the Cathedral of Saint-Jacques in Montreal. In September, Signay seconded the appointment. Kelly's return was not universally well-received, however. A number of parishioners preferred his interim replacement, but the issue was resolved by December.
Kelly continued to improve educational opportunities for his congregation after his return. By 1846 the parish library contained four hundred volumes. The late 1840s saw a very different community than Kelly had inherited. A monument to temperance was built in 1848, the bells of which Kelly blessed, and, in the same year, a society for the care of the poor and sick, and for the education of girls, was established under Kelly's supervision. The next year marked the completion of another new presbytery, funded privately by Kelly, who turned the old one into another college.
William Henry was renamed Sorel in 1845. Kelly's work in the area had exhausted him, and by the end of 1849 he entered the Hospice Saint-Joseph at Longue-Pointe, physically, mentally and financially distressed. After a four-year stay he died in their care, and was buried in Sorel by Bourget.
Political positions and controversies
William Henry, in spite of the town's remoteness, offered Kelly a chance to be of further use to Plessis. Lord Dalhousie Ramsay, the current Governor General, summered in William Henry. Through Kelly, Plessis (and Plessis' successor, Panet) learned of the governor's response to Jean-Jacques Lartigue's controversial 1820 promotion to auxiliary bishop of Montreal. Kelly was concerned by the governor's reaction; "I believe . . . we must not let ourselves be frightened by that man, that it will be necessary to bare our teeth. . . . We have a right to raise our voice and to make ourselves heard together at the foot of the throne. . . . Because we have been quiet spectators in politics it is thought that we feel nothing. It is quite clear that our enemies bear ill-will not only to the constitution of the country but also to its religion."[4]
In spite of his strong words against the British
Kelly involved himself in other disputes in William Henry. In 1839 he was suspected of helping Dr. George Holmes, who had killed
Despite, or perhaps because of, Kelly's opposition to both the nationalists and the
References
- ^ Anonymous professor quoted in "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: Jean-Baptiste Kelly". Retrieved September 25, 2005.
- ^ Cherrier, François, quoted in "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: Jean-Baptiste Kelly". Retrieved September 25, 2005.
- ^ Plessis, Joseph-Octave, quoted in "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: Jean-Baptiste Kelly". Retrieved September 25, 2005.
- ^ a b c d e Kelly, Jean-Baptiste, quoted in "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: Jean-Baptiste Kelly". Retrieved September 25, 2005.
- ^ "La crise politique de 1827". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2005.
- ^ Barthe, G.-I., quoted in "Fils de Québec, 3e Série". Retrieved September 25, 2005.