Bernard Buissas was born in Toulouse on November 25, 1796. He was canon and archpriest of the cathedral of Toulouse when he was appointed bishop of Limoges on April 21, 1844. He died in Limoges on December 24, 1856.

In 1847, he was looking for religious as auxiliary help and missionaries. After having knocked in vain at a number of doors, he wrote to Bishop de Mazenod at the beginning of the month of October. Bishop de Mazenod immediately accepted to send several Oblates.

The relations between Bishop Buissas and the Oblates were always difficult. Initially, he did not value their style of popular preaching. He subsequently used them more as replacement clergy rather than as missionaries. He never increased their salaries even when the number of Oblates increased, etc. See article: Limoges.

On October 19, 1847, Bishop de Mazenod found that the first letter received was “admirable. Already it makes me like this Bishop, as if I had known him for a hundred years.” (Oblate Writings I, vol. 10, no. 949, p. 186, footnote 75) He met Bishop Buissas in the course of a trip to Limoges in 1850 and 1856 and received his visit at his bishop’s palace in Marseilles in 1852. The relations between the two bishops were cordial, but Bishop de Mazenod had to often intervene to defend his Oblates. He considered Bishop Buissas a man hard to please, sometimes coarse and “this is how he shows his gratitude for the boundless devotedness of an entire community.” (Oblate Writings I, vol. 11, no. 1098, p. 74)

Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.