José Telésforo Paúl

José Telésforo Paúl y Vargas, SJ (5 January 1831 – 8 April 1889) was a Colombian Catholic bishop and Jesuit who worked in Panama and Colombia. Born in Bogotá, he served as bishop of Panamá from 1876 to 1884 and as archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada (now the Archdiocese of Bogotá, Colombia) from 1884 until his death in 1889.

Biography

Early life and education José Telésforo Paúl y Vargas was born on 5 January 1831 in Bogotá, Colombia. The son of Rafael Paúl y Motta, a Venezuelan lawyer, and Florentina Vargas Gaitán, he had two siblings, Felpie Fermín and Rafaela.

After studying at the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Paúl entered the Society of Jesus at age 13 at their house in Popayán.

Priesthood Paúl was ordained a priest on 5 December 1855, He eventually became a trusted advisor and counselor of Lesseps, who described Paúl as "the most illustrious prelate I have ever met." In addition, he paid special attention to providing religious care to residents of the Panama Canal Zone, dividing it into three different districts and ensuring the regular visit of Panamanian priests.

Paúl made pastoral visits through the diocese several times, and worked to establish schools and hospitals, and invited the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul to staff many of them. He wrote pastoral letters, which encouraged evangelism and Catholic education, condemned the conflict of liberalism with Catholicism, and addressed the relationship between church and state. In 1877, Paúl personally had traveled to the Congress of Colombia to demand respectful treatment of the church by the government.

Archbishop of Bogotá Following the death of Archbishop Vicente Arbeláez Gómez, Paúl was appointed archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada (now Bogotá) on 6 August 1884 by Pope Leo XIII. There, he participated in the drafting of the new Colombian Constitution of 1886. He died on 8 April 1889 in Bogotá, aged 58.

Episcopal lineage Cardinal Scipione Rebiba Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio (1566) Cardinal Girolamo Bernerio, OP (1586) Archbishop Galeazzo Sanvitale (1604) Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi (1621) Cardinal Luigi Caetani (1622) Cardinal Ulderico Carpegna (1630) Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni (1666) Pope Benedict XIII (1675) Pope Benedict XIV (1724) Archbishop Enrico Enríquez (1743) Bishop Manuel Quintano Bonifaz (1749) Cardinal Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana (1765) Bishop Atanasio Puyal y Poveda (1790) Bishop Andrés Esteban y Gómez (1815) Bishop Salvador Jiménez y Padilla (1816) Bishop Jose Antonio Chaves, OFM (1834) Bishop Bernabé Rojas, OP (1855) Bishop Domingo Antonio Riaño Martínez (1855) Archbishop Antonio Herrán y Zaldúa (1855) Archbishop Vicente Arbeláez Gómez (1860) Bishop Ignacio Antonio Parra (1871) Archbishop José Telésforo Paúl y Vargas, SJ (1876)