Pierre-Adrien Toulorge
Roman Catholic Church | |
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Beatified | 29 April 2012, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Coutances, France by Cardinal Angelo Amato |
Feast | 13 October |
Attributes |
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Patronage | Persecuted Christians |
Pierre-Adrien Toulorge (4 May 1757 - 13 October 1793) was a
Toulorge was beatified on 29 April 2012 after Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that the late priest was killed "in odium fidei" ('in hatred of the faith'). Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the celebration on the pope's behalf in the Coutances Cathedral.[3]
Life
Childhood and priesthood
Pierre-Adrien Toulorge was born in the
The assistant parish priest noticed his aspirations to enter the
The Revolution
In 1790 officials during the
Arrest and trial
On the evening of 2 September 1793 - close to the village of Saint-Nicolas-de-Pierrepont - a woman saw a man emerge from a thicket and invited him into her home and lit a fire for him; Toulorge revealed himself to the woman who then revealed herself to be the
On 4 September 1793 he was taken to the director of the Carentan district to be put on trial and hid the fact that he had left the mainland in order to avoid the death sentence. Commissioner Le Canut for the prosecution hoped to get Toulorge to contradict himself and asked him: "Have you ever - at this time or at any other - gone to Jersey or to any other foreign land?" to which the priest replied: "No". Le Canut instead fabricated the fact that a priest he interrogated had said he had seen Toulorge on the island which prompted Toulorge to state: "I have never left French soil and if others have told you I have they are either mistaken or crazy. Instead the prosecution showed him the seized objects from the Fosse home and the priest admitted to them belonging to him; the uncertain judges decided to send him to the departmental court in Coutances. In order to save his own life he continued to refuse mentioning that he left the mainland though when he returned to prison he felt a sense of guilt which prompted in him the desire to tell the truth. At dawn on 8 September 1793 he confessed the truth and - despite great exhaustion - appeared on 22 September before an administrative commission where he was interrogated on his trip to the island.[1]
The priest was then sent to a criminal court that the
Death
Toulorge asked for his hair to be cut and his beard to be shaved for his execution. He was present with his companions and stopped before the canticle for
His remains were dumped in a mass grave. His face was uncovered and faced west. He was reburied in 1804.[1]
He is a relative of Father Adrien Toulorge (1882-1916).[2]
Beatification
The beatification process opened in an informative process in 1922 that halted in 1928 due to interruptions that rendered the cause inactive until he was made a
The Positio dossier was sent to the C.C.S. in Rome in 1999 and a board of historians met and approved the cause on 5 December 2000 while deeming no historical obstacles existed in opposition to the cause; theologians voiced their approval on 13 July 2010 while the C.C.S. also voted in favor of the cause on 1 March 2011. Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that Toulorge died in hatred of his faith on 2 April 2011 which would pave the path for his beatification.
Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the beatification on the behalf of Benedict XVI on 29 April 2012 in the Coutances Cathedral.
The current postulator for this cause is the Rev. Gabriel Wolf.
References
- ^ a b c d "Blessed Pierre-Adrien Toulorge". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Peter-Adrian Toulorge" (PDF). Postulatio. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Life and Martyrdom of Pierre-Adrien Toulorge o.praem". Norbertine Vocations. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.