Bishop of Algiers from 1838 to 1845
The city of Algiers was constituted a diocese by Gregory XVI on August 9, 1838. Antoine Adolphe Dupuch was appointed as its bishop. He was born in Bordeaux on May 20, 1800. After his studies at the seminary of Saint Sulpice and his ordination to the priesthood in 1825, he had taken charge of a few works in Bordeaux. Consecrated bishop by Bishop Donnet, the archbishop of Bordeaux, he arrived at Algiers on December 31, 1838. He brought four priests with him and found four more already in the colony. The colony was made up of 25,000 civilians and 60,000 soldiers. he brought in several religious congregations and established a number of works. he maintained good relations with the Arabs, but the civil authorities instructed him to avoid any attempt to make converts. In the wake of the financial disaster of his administration, he was compelled to tender his resignation on December 9, 1845. He died in Bordeaux on July 11, 1856.
Bishop de Mazenod who had taken an interest in Algeria since the taking of Algiers in 1830 had put pressure on the king Louis Philippe and on the governor of Algeria, General Damrémont, in 1837 to create this diocese. (See above article: Algeria ) Twice in his Diary he states that he “had the pleasure of contributing to the erection” of the diocese of Algiers. (September 1, 1838 and January 31, 1839) He did meet bishop Dupuch a few times. Bishop Dupuch was in Marseilles on November 29, 1838, December 19, 1841, January 24 and October 3, 1842. In 1838-1839, the two bishops remained in contact with regard to “the Association for the Colonization of Algeria” founded by Prince de Mir. They saw each other daily during the visit that Bishop de Mazenod made to Algeria from October 22 to November 1842 to accompany the relics of Saint Augustine.
In the month of May of 1844, Bishop Dupuch wrote to Bishop de Mazenod to invite the chapter of the cathedral of Marseilles to contribute to the building of a rectory in Algiers. (Diary, May 31, 1844) and, after Bishop Dupuch’s resignation in 1845, the archbishop of Bordeaux sent a circular letter to the bishops of France on February 6, 1846 to ask them to come to the aid of one of their unfortunate colleagues. Father Rey wrote concerning this: “Bishop de Mazenod was one of the first to contribute generously and he encouraged several other bishops who asked him for information about an situation which they could not understand.” (Rey II, 229)
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
