GABRIEL PIGUET, BISHOP OF CLERMONT-FERRAND

GABRIEL PIGUET, BISHOP OF CLERMONT-FERRAND - 3 JULY

GABRIEL PIGUET, BISHOP OF CLERMONT -FERRAND

Bishop Gabriel Piguet

Gabriel Emmanuel Joseph Piguet, born February 24, 1887 at Mâcon, France, was ordained a priest on July 2, 1910. Following doctoral studies in Rome, he earned a doctorate in theology. His first posting as a curate was at the Cathedral of Autun, also in eastern France. After the outbreak of war in 1914, the 27-year-old Gabriel Piguet served as a medic with French troops; he was severely wounded at the front south of Verdun and was discharged with military honours in 1917. Gabriel Piguet subsequently resumed his duties at the Cathedral of Autun. He became active in Catholic Action and the youth movement. In 1929, he was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Clermont (an archdiocese since 2002). Finally, in 1933, Pope Pius XI appointed him Bishop of Clermont.

During WWII, Gabriel Piguet criticized the French Resistance for using violence in the fight against the occupiers. He was, however, heavily involved in Catholic resistance to Nazism, protecting Jews and partisans pursued by the Gestapo and arranging for numerous Jewish children within his diocese to be hidden in Catholic institutions, for instance at the Saint Marguerite Catholic boarding school in Clermont-Ferrand.

On Whit Sunday, May 28, 1944, Bishop Gabriel Piguet was arrested inside the cathedral following holy Mass. After a period of imprisonment, he was eventually sent to Dachau concentration camp without trial (on September 6, 1944), to Block 26, the "Priests' Block".

When word got around that a bishop had arrived and was now a fellow inmate, a small group of prisoners approached the bishop if he could please ordain the gravely ill deacon Karl Leisner, who had a strong desire to be ordained as a priest - a wish which, until now, had seemed impossible to fulfill, since there had been no bishop among the prisoners.

Bishop Gabriel Piguet agreed under the condition that Karl Leisner’s own bishop - Clemens August Graf von Galen of Münster - and Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich consented. Once their approval had been secured by postal communication, preparations for the celebration were made quickly and secretly. Episcopal vestments and insignias were secretly fashioned from the simplest materials, candlesticks were wrought from tin cans.

The ordination was scheduled for Gaudete Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent), December 17. Despite the ban on leaving the infirmary, Karl Leisner turned up in the barracks chapel at the appointed time following the morning roll call. Imprisoned priests from the Diocese of Münster and all incarcerated seminarians took part in the ordination ceremony. Also present were numerous priests representing groups from various nations, as well as a Protestant pastor who wished to witness the event. Not a single prescribed rite was omitted; the devotion, fervour, and deep emotion was palpable by all present.

Karl’s joy was overflowing but his weakness so great that he could not celebrate any holy Masses straight away. He celebrated one single holy Mass while incarcerated (on Saint Stephen's Day).

Blessed Karl Leisner passed away soon after the end of WW II. Bishop Gabriel Piguet survived his imprisonment, though physically very weakened. He still travelled to Rome and also wrote a book about his experiences in captivity: "Prison and Deportation". Bishop Gabriel Piguet went to his eternal reward on July 3, 1952.

Sources: - https://selige-kzdachau.de/index.php/neuigkeiten/2026/bischof-gabriel-piguet-gerechter-unter-den-voelkern-2026-35 - https://schoenstatt.com/karl-leisner-when-passion-and-love-shape-a-life/ -https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/magazine/selected-articles/saints/10103-blessed-karl-leisner,-priest-and-martyr - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Piguet

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

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