Jean-Jacques Lartigue | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Jean-Jacques Lartigue

Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montréal (b at Montréal 20 June 1777; d there 19 Apr 1840).

Lartigue, Jean-Jacques

Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montréal (b at Montréal 20 June 1777; d there 19 Apr 1840). A member of the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice in Montréal from 1806 to 1820, he was given oversight of the district of Montréal in January 1821, when he was consecrated a titular bishop and auxiliary bishop to the bishop of Québec. For some 15 years, he was the target of the hostility of the Saint-Sulpice priests, jealously defending the influence they had exercised in Montréal since 1657, and of the British authorities who found him too nationalistic for their liking.

An ULTRAMONTANE, he tried to bring about a Christian society which would revolve around the church. In pursuit of this objective, he had to face the revolt of a lay minority which opposed Church control, especially over education. Named the first bishop of Montréal on 13 May 1836, he drew upon himself the wrath of the radical PATRIOTES whom he condemned energetically in his pastoral letter of 24 October 1837.