JEAN LE VACHER, PRIEST AND MARTYR

JEAN LE VACHER, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 26 JULY

SERVANT OF GOD JEAN LE VACHER, PRIEST AND MARTYR

Jean le Vacher (Johann) was a priest of the Lazarist Congregation and martyr. Saint Vincent de Paul who, during his captivity there, had learned about the sad situation of the Christian slaves in Tunis, sent Father Louis Guerin (Ludwig) to Tunis in 1645 to minister to them. When he could no longer cope with the workload on his own, Father Jean le Vacher was dispatched to Tunis to assist him. This priest [born on March 15, 1619] came from Ecouen.

When he arrived [on November 22, 1677], he found Tunis ravaged by the plague.

Both missionaries devoted themselves to the unfortunate plague sufferers until they themselves were both struck by this gruesome disease. Guerin died; his colleague recovered and continued to run the entire mission field on his own. After the death of the French consul, Father le Vacher had to take over the consular affairs as well, and since at the time the consulate used to be up for sale, Saint Vincent de Paul had the opportunity to purchase it for his Order. Father le Vacher became French Consul in 1649 and was also appointed Vicar Apostolic by Rome. In 1652 he dedicated two Christian chapels that had been permitted to be built in Tunisia for the first time since the conquest of Carthage by the Mohamedans.

Father le Vacher used his position as consul and apostolic vicar to ensure that all stipulated legal provisions favourable to Christians were indeed fulfilled in reality. He also extended his activities to the area around Tunis, converted a large number of renegades in Bizerte and also bought into freedom a number of Christian slaves.

Because of an intrigue by French merchants he was finally forced to leave Tunis in 1668. He went to Algiers, where God decorated him with the martyr's crown [on July 26,] 1683.

Jean le Vacher was the first and last Lazarist who worked permanently in Tunis, and at the same time the first and last consul of his congregation. (After him, Italian Capuchins purchased the Tunisian mission and still have it in their possession today. Tunis was made an apostolic prefecture and on March 21, 1813, an independent apostolic vicarage. The Capuchin Provincial of Bologna, P. Fidelis Lutter, was appointed Bishop of Rosalia and consecrated as the first shepherd of this church. The Apostolic Vicariate of Tunis currently [in 1882] has 15.800 Catholics.)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, p. 633)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

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