Bishop Jean Joseph Pierre Guigou (Bernad).
Jean Joseph Pierre Guigou was born at Auriol in Provence on December 1, 1767. While he was still a deacon, he took refuge in Nice where he was ordained to the priesthood on March 19, 1791. Upon his return to France, he was appointed canon in 1802 by Bishop de Cicé, archbishop of Aix. Upon the death of Bishop Cicé in 1810, Fr. Guigou and Fr. Beylot were appointed capitular vicars. In 1811, Napoleon transferred Bishop Jauffret, the Bishop of Metz, to the archbishopric of Aix. But the Pope was in no hurry to install him canonically. In order to avoid setting themselves in opposition to the will of the Emperor, the chapter of Aix appointed him as administrator. Bishop Jauffret chose as his vicars general, Fr. Florens and Fr. Boulard. Fr. Guigou lost his position.
After the fall of Napoleon, on April 14, 1814, Bishop Jauffret proferred his resignation to the chapter and withdrew to Metz. The former vicars capitular, Fr. Guigou and Fr. Beylot were once again called upon to govern the diocese. On September 13, 1823, Fr. Guigou was appointed bishop of Angoulème and was installed on September 13, 1824. After ten years in office, he fell ill and remained partially paralysed, but did not resign. He died in Angoulème on May 21, 1842.
His Relations with Eugene de Mazenod
Abbé de Mazenod, upon his return to Aix at the beginning of November, 1812, had the opportunity of learning of Fr. Guigou’s opposition to Fr. Florens, Bishop Jauffret’s vicar general. Abbé de Mazenod took the part of Fr. Guigou. When, in 1814, Fr. Guigou took in hand once again the government of the diocese of Aix, Abbé de Mazenod was able to count on his good will and support. In point of fact, Fr. Guigou took a great deal of interest in the endeavours of his supporter, especially his work with the Youth Association which he founded in 1813 and which was so important for the diocese. On July 24, 1814, he granted him permission to keep the Blessed Sacrament in the youth chapel at L’Enclos. On August 6 of that year, he countersigned the petition to the Pope drawn up by Abbé de Mazenod in view of an approbation of his Congregation. And on November 21 of 1814, basing himself on a rescript from the Holy See, he canonically established the Christian Youth Association. Later on, in the 1815-1817 period, he supported Abbé de Mazenod in his clashes with the parish priests of Aix.
It was especially on the occasion of the founding of the Missionaries of Provence that Fr. Guigou supported the endeavors of Eugene de Mazenod and defended him against the slanders levelled at him by his detractors. Shored up by this support, Abbé de Mazenod, after having won four priests to his cause and bought a part of the former Carmelite convent, on January 25, 1816, presented a petition to the vicars general. In this petition, he asked for the authorization to establish a community with a view to striving for sanctification together and to preach parish missions. Fr. Guigou took the affair in hand personally and, on the fourth page which remained blank, wrote in his own hand the decree of provisional approbation. He reserved the right of giving definitive approval after a more or less long trial period.
On August 31, 1816, Fr. Guigou presented to the Minister of the Interior and of Public Worship a request for legal recognition for the Mission of Provence. But, in Paris, the thinking was that the Mission of Provence was a subsidiary wing of the Society of the Missionaries of France. Since the Missionaries of France had been approved on September 25, 1816, it was judged superfluous to give specific approbation to the Missionaries of Provence. The business became even more complicated when Abbé de Mazenod asked for a grant to repair the church which legally belonged to the state. In order to shed this responsibility, the government decided to grant his petition. But, by mistake, the royal edict of November 20, 1816, bestowed the church on the Missionaries of France. Abbé de Mazenod insisted that Mr. Guigou should send to Paris the necessary corrections. Since the Mission of Provence could not hold property, the church was given to the diocese. Fr. Guigou, on his part, put it at the disposal of the Missionaries of Provence.
The Founder understood the urgent need to obtain legal recognition for his society. Benefactors were leaving donations to the Mission of Provence in their wills and the Missionaries could not receive these gifts. As a result, he arranged with Fr. Guigou to put pressure on the government to grant the Mission of Provence legal recognition. On December 30, 1816, Fr. Guigou sent the statutes of the Missionaries as drawn up by Abbé de Mazenod to the minister in charge and asked him to be so kind as to approve them. Unfortunately, on January 2, 1817, a law was passed that reserved to the Chamber of Deputies the right of approving a religious congregation. Since the affair was becoming long and drawn out and opposition to the Missionaries was becoming more and more subtle and crafty, Abbé de Mazenod decided to leave for Paris. He judged that he still had enough influence with his old friends for him to return with the authorization in hand. Unfortunately, Abbé de Mazenod was forced to be satisfied with benign tolerance: On August 4, 1817, the Minister Lainé wrote him: “In the meantime, along with your esteemed colleagues, you can continue the work you have so happily begun.”
While he was in Paris, Father de Mazenod had the opportunity of meeting Bishop de Bausset, the newly elected archbishop of Aix. Initially, Bishop Bausset received him with open arms and even offered him the position of vicar general. But, in their second interview, he changed his tune and pointed out to Abbé de Mazenod that, because of the opposition of certain parish priests in Aix to the Mission of Provence, he believed it would be wiser for Eugene to abandon his original idea. After four months spent in Paris, Abbé de Mazenod returned to Aix at the beginning of December, 1817. The new archbishop confirmed Fr. Guigou in his office of vicar general, but Mr. Guigou, since he was bound to follow the policy laid out for him by his superior, began to treat Abbé de Mazenod in a more guarded fashion.
In spite of a cooling in their relationship, Father de Mazenod still judged him an individual competent to administer a diocese and took steps to convince the Grand Chaplaincy to have Mr. Guigou appointed bishop of Angoulème, a diocese which was badly neglected at the time. His efforts were successful and, in 1823, Mr. Guigou was appointed bishop of that diocese. During his episcopacy, his relations with Father de Mazenod did not always run smoothly. Hardly was he appointed bishop when he came to a disagreement with Bishop Fortuné de Mazenod while Eugene was the moving spirit supporting Bishop Fortuné. It was the Fr. Claude Maurel case. In 1823, Fr. Maurel was appointed superior of the major seminary of Marseilles, but at the end of one year, he declared that he was not equal to the task. Consequently, he was released from his position and appointed parish priest of Aubagne. Not only did Fr. Maurel reject this assignment, but he left the diocese of Marseilles and withdrew to Angoulème where he was welcomed with open arms by Bishop Guigou. The de Mazenods were upset by this breach of canon law and lodged a protest with Bishop Guigou. Bishop Guigou succeeded in calming the troubled spirits and succeeded in keeping Fr. Maurel in his diocese. In 1831, Fr. Maurel returned to Marseilles and was appointed parish priest of Notre-Dame du Mont.
In his 1838 diary, Bishop de Mazenod mentions Bishop Guigou three times: April 1, and 1 and 27 of August. He was very critical of the Bishop of Angoulème. When Bishop Guigou came to Marseilles in 1838, Bishop de Mazenod met with him twice in the month of August. He told him point blank that, because of his ill health, he was no longer capable of adequately administering his diocese and, in conscience, he should resign. Bishop Guigou did not follow his advice and, even though he was partially paralysed, he remaind in office until his death which took place May 21, 1842.
Jósef Pielorz, o.m.i.
