Napoléon-Joseph Perché

Napoléon-Joseph Perché (1805–1883) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana from 1870 to 1883.

Biography

Early life Born on January 10, 1805, Napoléon-Joseph Perché was a native of Angers in the Department of Maine-et-Loire in France. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Angiers at Beaupreau on September 19, 1829, after which he served in the local diocese until 1837, when he departed for the United States.

Arriving in the United States, Perché was assigned to what was then the Diocese of Bardstown. On a visit to New Orleans, he delivered a powerful sermon that was heard by Archbishop Antoine Blanc. Seeing the need for a priest who could speak French, Blanc petitioned the Vincentians to transfer Perché to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In 1846, he moved to New Orleans, where he was appointed chaplain to the Ursuline Convent there. Perché founded the first archdiocesan newspaper, Le Propagateur Catholique, published in French.

Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of New Orleans On February 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX appointed Perché as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and titular bishop of Abdera. He was consecrated on May 1, 1870, by Sylvester Horton Rosecrans. When Bishop Jean-Marie Odin died several weeks later on May 25, 1870, Perché automatically succeeded him as archbishop.

To support this expansion, Perché recruited several religious congregations of teaching Brothers and religious sisters from France. He also authorized the founding of a native congregation in 1871, the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Labadieville, Louisiana. He also established three monasteries of enclosed religious orders.