Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel

Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel (1 December 1802 – 29 March 1891) was the Bishop of Toronto from 1847 to 1860 and the only French and non-English priest to hold the post.

Born in Château du Flachat, France he was the second son of Jean-Baptiste de Charbonnel, Comte de Charbonnel, and Marie-Claudine de Pradier. At the age of ten, he was sent to a school operated by the Basilian Fathers in Anonay. Despite his father's wish that he enter the military, at seventeen, he went to the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice in Issy to study for the priesthood. He was ordained on 17 Dec. 1825.

Charbonnel joined the Society of Saint-Sulpice in 1826 and became professor of dogmatic theology and scripture, teaching at Sulpician seminaries in Versailles, Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Lyons. Charbonnel’s intervention during a workers’ revolt in that Lyons in 1834 saved the city from destruction but he would not accept the cross of the Legion of Honour for this action.

Charbonnel repeatedly declined appointments as Vicar-General or coadjutor by the Bishops of Puiy, Autun, Limoges and Bordeaux, as well as Superior of the Seminary of Grenoble. To avoid such appointments, he decided to undertake missionary work in North America and came to the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice in Montreal late in 1839. There he distinguished himself as a gifted preacher at large retreats before moving briefly to Baltimore, Maryland, about 1840 to study English.

From 1840 to 1847 Charbonnel served as vicar at the parish of Our Lady of Montreal, working among the Irish immigrants. When the Governo General Sydenham suggested that he accept appointment to one of Britain's colonies, he responded “If I wished to be a bishop, I would not have left France.”

Charbonnel fell ill with typhus, and was recalled to France to convalesce. When Charbonnel was fully recovered, he accepted the position of professor of Theology in the Seminary of Aix in Provence.

With the death of Bishop Power of Toronto, the Canadian hierarchy asked the Propaganda in Rome to appoint Charbonnnel.Pope Pius IX consecrated him bishop in the Sistine Chapel on 26 May 1850. Charbonnel left for Toronto in 1847 as the city's Bishop. Bishop Charbonnel arrived in Toronto on 21 September 1850. He worked to give the diocese a stable pastoral and financial footing. An eloquent preacher Bishop Charbonnel nonetheless, never felt up to the responsibilities of bishop, because of the linguistic and cultural gap that existed between him and his flock.

...
Wikipedia