Gaspard Mermillod

His Eminence Gaspard Mermillod
Cardinal Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva
See	Lausanne and Geneva
Installed	15 March 1883
Term ended	11 March 1891
Predecessor	Christophore Cosandey
Successor	Joseph Déruaz
Other posts	Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva (25 September 1864 – 15 March 1883) Titular Bishop of Hebron (25 September 1864 – 15 March 1883) Cardinal-Priest of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo (23 June 1890 – 23 February 1892)
Orders
Ordination	24 June 1847
Consecration	25 September 1864
Created cardinal	23 June 1890
Personal details
Born	Gaspard Mermillod 22 September 1824 Carouge, Switzerland
Died	23 February 1892 (aged 67) Rome, Italy
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church

Gaspard Mermillod (22 September 1824 – 23 February 1892) was a Swiss Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Despite a lengthy investiture conflict with the Calvinist Canton of Geneva, he served as Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva from 1883 to 1891, having previously served as Titular Bishop of Hebron. He was made a cardinal in 1890.

He made major contributions to Catholic social teaching which helped lay the groundwork for Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum.

Early life and education

Gaspard Mermillod was born on 22 September 1824 in Carouge, Switzerland. He was the eldest of six children of Jacques and Pernette (née Mégard) Mermillod, both born of farming families of a neighboring village of Bardonnex. His parents operated an inn and a bakery. Gaspard attended the minor Seminary of Saint-Louis du Mont (1837–1841) at Chambéry, France and studied philosophy and theology at the Jesuit Collège Saint-Michel (1841–1847) at Fribourg, Switzerland.

Priesthood

In June 1847, Mermillod was ordained to the priesthood and was appointed curate in Geneva, where he established two periodicals: L'observateur Catholique and Les Annales Catholiques. He was vicar of the Church of St-Germain in Geneva. In 1857, he became a parish priest and at the same time, Vicar-General of the Bishop of Lausanne for the canton of Geneva. The Church of Notre-Dame in Geneva was built by him from 1851 to 1859.

Episcopal career (Catholic church)

Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva

Mermillod was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva and Titular Bishop of Hebron, by Pope Pius IX, on 22 September 1864. He received his episcopal consecration on 25 September 1864. He was especially active for Catholic education, founding with Louis Brisson and Léonie Aviat the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales at Troyes, for the protection of poor working girls. On 30 October 1868 Leonie, with one of her former boarding school companions, received the habit of this new congregation from Mermillod.

In 1873, Bishop Etienne Marilley of Lausanne and Geneva, renounced the title of the See of Geneva, in the Calvinist Canton of Geneva. With that action, the Holy See, Pius IX, appointed Mermillod as Vicar-Apostolic of Geneva, thus officially detaching the Canton of Geneva from the Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva and making it territory directly under the Papal Authority. As this was not recognized by either the State Council of Geneva or the Swiss Federal Council, Mermillod was forbidden to exercise any episcopal functions and was banished from Switzerland by a decree of 17 February 1873. He then attempted to perform his functions from exile in the nearby French town of Ferney.

In 1879, Marilley resigned his diocese of Lausanne, and Christophore Cosandey, provost at the Seminary in Fribourg, was elected Bishop to a re-unified Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva, while the newly elected Pope Leo XIII ended the Vicariate Apostolic of Geneva. Appeased, the Canton of Geneva lifted its decree against Mermillod.

Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva

Upon the death of Cosandey in October 1882, Gaspard returned to Switzerland and was appointed Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva on 15 March 1883. The conflict was by no means at an end, for the Canton of Geneva refused to recognize him as bishop. Normal relations resumed only when Leo XIII elevated Mermillod to Cardinal-Priest of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo on 23 June 1890.

Mermillod made major contributions to the Social Doctrine of the Church. Encouraged by his friend René de La Tour du Pin, he founded the Union of Fribourg, which included some of the biggest names in Social Catholicism at the time (Swiss: Gaspard Decurtins; French: René de La Tour du Pin, Albert de Mun, Louis Milcent, and Henri Lorin; Austrian: Karl von Vogelsang and Gustave Blome; German: Franz Kuefstein). Their work on the "social question" form the base of the encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum novarum.

Retirement and death

In March 1891, Mermillod resigned the pastoral government of the Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva, and Joseph Déruaz was named his successor. Upon this resignation, he relocated to Rome, where he eventually died on 23 February 1892. He was laid in repose, in the church of Ss. Vicenzo ed Anastasio a Trevi and buried in the Carthusian Chapel, Campo Verano cemetery, Rome. His body was eventually transferred, in 1926, to the parish church of Saint-Croix in Carouge. A street in the town of Carouge was named in his honour.

Works

His Lettres à un Protestant sur l'autorité de l'église et le schisme (Paris, 1860) made a great impression. Another important work was his De la vie surnaturelle dans les âmes (Lyons, 1865; Paris, 1881). His collected works were edited by Grospellier (Paris, 1893) in three volumes.

See also

• Etsi multa

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Gaspard Mermillod — Bishop of Lausanne and cardinal, born at Carouge, Switzerland, 22 September, 1824; died in Rome, 23 February, 1892. He studied at the Jesuit College at Freiburg, Switzerland; became a priest in 1847, and was soon after a curate in Geneva, where he established two periodicals: "L'observateur Catholique" and "Les Annales Catholiques". In 1857 he became parish priest of Geneva and at the same time Vicar-General of the Bishop of Lausanne for the canton of Geneva. The splendid edifice of Notre-Dame, still the principal church of Geneva, was built by him from 1851 to 1859. The funds were subscribed from all parts of Christendom. In 1864 he became titular Bishop of Hebron, and auxiliary of the Bishop of Lausanne for the canton of Geneva, with residence at Geneva. For seven years he pursued without hindrance his episcopal functions, and was especially active for Catholic education, founding with Marie de Sales Chappuis the female Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales at Troyes for the protection of poor working girls. When the Holy See made him independent Administrator of Geneva, the Radical Government of the canton protested, and a long and serious conflict ensued. He was at first forbidden to exercise any episcopal functions whatever, and later was declared deposed even as regarded his functions as a parish-priest. When the Bishop of Lausanne renounced unconditionally the title of the See of Geneva, the pope appointed Mermillod to be Vicar-Apostolic of Geneva. The City Council, then, caused his expulsion from Switzerland, whereupon he repaired to Ferney, in French territory, from which place he governed his diocese as best he could. At the cessation of the religious conflict Leo XIII made the newly elected Bishop of Lausanne also Bishop of Geneva, without, however, depriving Mermillod of his office. The Government did not, however, alter its tactics, and Mermillod could return to Switzerland only after the death of the bishop whose successor he became. The conflict was, however, by no means at an end, for the canton of Geneva refused to recognize him as bishop, and normal relations were resumed only when Mermillod became cardinal in 1890. Cardinal Mermillod was one of the great preachers of modern times. In his far-sighted policy he founded in 1885 the "Union Catholique d'études sociales et économiques". His Lettres à un Protestant sur l'autorité de l'église et le schisme" (Paris, 1860) made a great impression. Another important work was his "De la vie surnaturelle dans les ames" (Lyons, 1865; Paris, 1881). His collected works were edited by Grospellier (Paris, 1893) in three volumes.

External links

• Media related to Gaspard Mermillod at Wikimedia Commons
• "Gaspard Cardinal Mermillod [Catholic-Hierarchy]".