- Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve
infobox cardinalbiog
name = Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Cardinal Villeneuve †
See = Quebec
Title = Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec
Period =December 11 ,1931 —January 17 ,1947
cardinal =March 13 ,1933
Predecessor =Felix Cardinal Rouleau , OP †
Successor = Maurice Cardinal Roy †
post = Bishop of Gravelbourg | date of birth =November 2 ,1883
place of birth =Montreal ,Canada
date of death =January 17 ,1947
place of death = Alhambra,United States |infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Cardinal Villeneuve
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Quebec |Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Cardinal Villeneuve, OMI (
November 2 ,1883 —January 17 ,1947 ) was a Canadianprelate of theRoman Catholic Church . He served as Archbishop of Quebec from 1931 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933.Biography
Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve was born in
Montreal , one of the three children of a shoemaker. He completed his secondary studies at Mont-Saint-Louis, from where he obtained adiploma inscience andcommerce , in 1900. After teaching at a school in Dorval, Villeneuve entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate onAugust 14 ,1901 , in Lachine. He professed his final vows onSeptember 8 ,1903 , and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Joseph-Thomas Duhamel onMay 25 ,1907 . While pursuing doctoral studies at theUniversity of Ottawa , Villeneuve taughtphilosophy (1907-1913) and moral theology (1913-1920) at the Oblate Scholasticate inOttawa . He also served as aprofessor of canon law, liturgy,spirituality , and ecclesiastical history, and the Dean ofTheology at the Scholasticate.From the University of Ottawa, he earned a doctorate in philosophy (1919), doctorate in theology (1922), and doctorate in canon law (1930). Villeneuve founded the School of Superior Ecclesiastical Studies, where he was made titular professor of canon law, in 1928. In 1929, he returned to the University of Ottawa, this time to head the Canon Law Faculty. He was active in labor unions,
civil rights , and contributed to "Le Droit ".On
July 3 , 1930, Villeneuve was appointed the first Bishop of Gravelbourg byPope Pius XI . He received his episcopal consecration on the followingSeptember 11 from Archbishop Joseph-Guillaume-Laurent Forbes, with Bishops Louis Rhéaume, OMI, and Joseph Guy, OMI, serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Ottawa. Villeneuve was later named Archbishop of Quebec and thus Primate of the Church in Canada onDecember 11 ,1931 .Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of "S. Maria degli Angeli" in the
consistory ofMarch 13 ,1933 . Commenting on his elevation, Villeneuve said, "I do not feel at all worthy, but the Sovereign Pontiff calls me and I go" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745362-2,00.html Red Hats]March 20 ,1933 ] . The Canadian primate was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave, at which he himself was considered "papabile " [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760853,00.html According to Custom]March 6 ,1939 ] [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760927-2,00.html "Habemus Papam"]March 13 ,1939 ] , that selectedPope Pius XII .He was opposed to
freedom of the press [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848036,00.html "Entitled to Pronounce"]April 4 ,1938 ] , of thought, and of religion, and believed that granting women the right to vote would have ruinous effects onfamily unity and paternal authority [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778900,00.html "It Is the End"]January 27 ,1947 ] . Initially an isolationist, he encouragedFrench Canadian s to register for the draft and to enlist upon the outbreak ofWorld War II , saying, "You cannot fight this war by condensing the horizon to this continent" [Ibid.] . During the fall of 1944, he visited the Canadian military stationed inGreat Britain ,Italy ,Belgium , and theNetherlands [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,803286,00.html Emissary?]October 9 ,1944 ] [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796863,00.html The Appeal]November 27 ,1944 ] .Villeneuve was striken by a heart attack on
July 7 ,1946 , while returning fromÎle-à-la-Crosse , where he had taken part in the celebrations for the centennial of his order. After beinghospital ized atHôtel-Dieu de Québec , he leftQuebec for theUnited States , specifically forMisericordia Hospital inManhattan , on the followingOctober 4 for medical treatment, having yet another crisis onOctober 14 .Seeking a milder climate, he arrived at a
convent inAlhambra, California , onJanuary 14 ,1947 . Three days later, the Cardinal stopped his private secretary during the beginning of the latter's Mass, sensing his death was imminent [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778900,00.html "It Is the End"]January 27 ,1947 ] . He died within the hour, at 7:50 a.m., aged 63.Upon his body's return to Canada, flags were set at
half-staff . OnJanuary 24 , James Cardinal McGuigan celebrated his funeral Mass, at which, according to Villeneuve's will, there was noeulogy but only Gregorian music. He is buried in the Cathedral-Basilica of Quebec.Trivia
*Villeneuve became known in Ottawa as its "Good Father" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753221,00.html Quebec's Good Father]
December 28 ,1931 ] .
*He viewed wearingshorts as an offense to Christiandecency [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,852325,00.html People]July 9 ,1945 ] .References
External links
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvillj.html Catholic-Hierarchy]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-v.htm#Villeneuve Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008375 Canadian Encyclopedia]
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