John J. Chanche

Bishop John Joseph Mary Benedict Chanche, P.S.S. (October 4, 1795 - July 22, 1852) was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Natchez from 1841 to 1851.

Early Life and Family

John Mary Joseph Chanche was born October 4, 1795, in Baltimore, Maryland. Chanche was of French lineage, having been born to parents who had fled to Baltimore from the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), presumably during the Haitian revolution (which itself occurred at about the same time as the French Revolution).

Chanche joined the Sulpicians, and was ordained a priest on June 5, 1819. Father Chanche was president of Mount St. Mary's when he was appointed Bishop of Natchez in 1841.

Bishop of Natchez

Styles of John Joseph Chanche, P.S.S.
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

The Diocese of Natchez was created on 28 July 1837, and although it encompassed the entire state of Mississippi, a large geographic region, nearly three years passed before Father Chanche was appointed as its first bishop on 15 December 1840.

Chanche was consecrated March 14, 1841 by Archbishop Samuel Eccleston. Arriving at Natchez, he met there the only priest in the state, Father Brogard, who was only there temporarily. Taking up the role of a simple missionary, Bishop Chanche began to collect the Catholics and organize a diocese. Chanche set to work building a diocesan infrastructure, and became reasonably well-known in the church hierarchy in North America.

In 1842 Bishop Chanche laid the corner stone of Saint Mary Cathedral, and opened an academy for girls. In 1818 he invited the Sisters of Charity to Natchez.

At the First Plenary Council, in 1852, Bishop Chanche served the role of "chief promoter." He died shortly after the sessions of the Council, at Frederick, Maryland, leaving his diocese with 11 priests, 11 churches erected, and 13 attendant missions.

In 2007 the body of Bishop Chance was exhumed and returned Natchez to be reintered in St. Mary Basilica .

See also

• Roman Catholic Church
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson

External links

• www.catholic-hierarchy.org
• photographs of a painting of Bishop Chanche

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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