Louis de Goesbriand

Louis Joseph Marie Théodore de Goesbriand (August 4, 1816 – November 3, 1899) was a French-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1853 until his death in 1899. His cause for canonization was initiated by the Diocese of Burlington in 2019.

Biography Early life Louis de Goesbriand was born on August 4, 1815, in Saint-Urbain, Finistère, in France to a wealthy family. He had nine siblings. After deciding to enter the priesthood, he studied at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. In 1840, Bishop Jean-Marie Graveran of the Diocese of Quimper released de Goesbriand to immigrate to the United States as a missionary.

Priesthood On July 13, 1840, de Goesbriand was ordained to the priesthood in Paris by Bishop Giuseppe Rosati for the Diocese of Saint Paul. After he arrived in the United States, De Goesbriand did pastoral work for the Diocese of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1840 to 1847. In 1848 he was appointed rector of St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio and vicar general for the diocese. De Goesbriand began his new diocese with five priests, ten churches, and about 20,000 parishioners. In August 1894, de Goesbriand consecrated the Diocese of Burlington to Saint Peter. He spent his entire family fortune constructing churches and orphanages and assisting the poor, dying with only four dollars left to his name.

The diocese had least 50 priests and 30 new parishes when de Goesbriand died. In the 1920s, De Goesbriand Memorial Hospital in Burlington was created in his name.