Barthélemy Bruguière

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Most Reverend

Barthélemy Bruguière
Apostolic Vicar of Korea
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseApostolic Vicar of Korea
PredecessorNone
SuccessorLaurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert
Previous post(s)Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Siam
Orders
OrdinationDecember 23, 1815
ConsecrationJune 29, 1829
by Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens
Personal details
BornFebruary 12, 1792
Raissac-d'Aude, France
DiedOctober 20, 1835(1835-10-20) (aged 43)

Barthélemy Bruguière (February 12, 1792 – October 20, 1835) was the first Apostolic Vicar of Korea and former Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Siam.[1]

Biography

Bruguière was born in Raissac-d'Aude, France and studied at the seminary of

Apostolic Vicariate of Siam where the existing bishop, Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens had only one missionary priest.[2] He learned the Thai language but soon found out the majority of Christians were typically not of Thai ancestry but rather Khmer, Chinese, Vietnamese, and those of mixed Portuguese-Asian background; as the Thai Buddhists were not as amenable to conversion, he focused his efforts on the minority groups.[2]

Bruguière taught at the school at the Church of the Assumption for several years and then after repeated requests by Florens for a replacement,[2] he was appointed by Pope Leo XII on February 5, 1828, the Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Siam and Titular Bishop of Capsus.[1] He was consecrated bishop on June 29, 1829 by Bishop Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens, Vicar Apostolic of Siam.[1][2] In 1830, after two new missionary priests arrived in Bangkok (Claude-Antoine Deschavannes and Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix), Bruguière moved to Penang in 1831 where he taught at the MEP-run General College along with Jacques-Honoré Chastan, Jean-Baptiste Boucho, Jean Pierre Barbe, and Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert.[2] An influx of funding and MEP missionaries into the region lessened the need for him to remain in Siam and it was proposed that he go to Korea and establish a new mission.[2] Bishop Florens supported the mission despite the fact that it would leave him without a coadjutor when he died.[2]

On September 9, 1831, Bruguière was appointed the first

Xiwanzi where he met MEP missionary Pierre-Philibert Maubant who volunteered for the Korea mission.[2] On October 7, 1835, they set out but before he could reach Korea, Bruguière became sick and died on October 20, 1835.[2] Maubant would later be joined by Jacques-Honoré Chastan and Laurent Joseph Marius Imbert where they would eventually be arrested and martyred.[2]

In 1931, Bruguière's remains were moved and reburied in a cemetery in Seoul.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Bishop Barthélemy Bruguière, M.E.P.". David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 4, 2017
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Journal of the Siam Society: "Bishop Barthélemy Bruguière (1792–1835)" by Kennon Breazeale 2008 - Vol. 96
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