Jean-Francois-Anne Landriot

Landriot, JEAN-FRANCOIS-ANNE, French bishop, at Couches-les-Mines near Autun, 1816; d. at Reims, 1874. Ordained in 1839 from the seminary of Autun, he became, after a few years spent at the cathedral, successively superior of the seminary, 1842; vicar-general, 1850; Bishop of La Rochelle, 1856, and Archbishop of Reims, 1867. During his ten years’ stay at La Rochelle he restored the cathedral, organized the Propagation of the Faith and the Peter’s pence collections, and won a reputation as a pulpit orator. A true bishop, he made it a rule to announce personally the Word of God either in his cathedral or in some city of his diocese. At Reims, besides preaching many Advent and Lenten stations, he raised a large subscription for the pontifical army, established several educational institutions, founded an asylum for the aged, and intrusted St. Walfroy to the Priests of the Mission. As a member of the Vatican Council, he deemed inopportune the definition of papal infallibility, but, once decreed; he adhered to its promulgation and even wrote to his diocesans urging them to accept it unconditionally. Lacroix (“Msgr. Landriot pendant l’ occupation allemande”, Reims, 1898) shows Landriot’s influence in allaying the measure of rigor resorted to by the victorious Germans during their occupation of Reims in 1870. In the question of the ancient classics Landriot refused to subscribe to the extreme views of Gaume and “L’Univers”. An eloquent preacher, he was also an ascetic writer of note. Beside his pastoral works collected in the “Oeuvres de Msgr. Landriot” (7 vols. Paris, 1864-74), we have from his pen, all published in Paris: “Recherches historiques sur les ecoles litteraires du Christianisme” (1851); “Examen critique des lettres de.l’Abbe Gaume sur le paganisme clans l’education” (1852); “La femme forte” (1862); “La femme pieuse” (1863); “La priere chretienne” (1863): “Le Christ et la tradition” (1865); “Les beatitudes evangeliques” (1865); “Le Symbolisme” (1866); “L’Eucharistie” (1866); “La Sainte Communion” (1872); “L’Autorite et la liberte” (1872); “L’esprit chretien dans l’enseignement” (1873); “Instructions sur l’oraison dominicale” (1873); “L’Esprit Saint” (1879), etc.

J.F. SOLLIER