Leo-Raymond de Neckere

Leo-Raymond de Neckère, C.M. (6 June 1800 – 4 September 1833), was a Belgian-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of New Orleans from 1830 until his death in 1833.

Biography Born in Wevelgem, West Flanders, Leo-Raymond de Neckère studied the classics and philosophy at the college of Roeselare, and attended the seminary of Ghent. He accepted an invitation from Bishop Louis DuBourg in 1817 to serve as a missionary in Louisiana, United States, arriving in September of that year. De Neckère was ordained to the priesthood on 13 October 1822. He then worked as a missionary and seminary professor before becoming superior of St. Mary's Seminary in 1826. After an outbreak of yellow fever in 1833, de Neckère, who had retired to Convent, returned to the episcopal see of New Orleans, where he himself fell victim to the fever and soon died at age 33.