Jacques Jules Bonnaud (also James Julius Bonnaud; 1740 – 1792) was a Haitian-born French Jesuit priest who, with several others, was assassinated in the September Massacres during the Reign of Terror as part of the French Revolution. He was likely the first Haitian professor or theologian in Europe.
Blessed Jacques Jules Bonnaud SJ | |
|---|---|
 Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes Church in Paris, formerly a prison where Bonnaud and others were martyred in 1792 during the French Revolution. | |
| Born | October 27, 1740 Cap-Haitien, Haiti |
| Died | September 2, 1792 (aged 51) Carmes Prison, Paris |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Honored in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | October 17, 1926 by Pope Pius XI |
| Major shrine | Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes |
| Feast | September 2 |
Having died out of loyalty to the Catholic Church and the pope, he is recognized as a martyr and was beatified on October 17, 1926, by Pope Pius XI, at the same time as many other secular priests, Jesuits, Capuchins and Carmelites who were victims of the excesses of the Revolution. As of 2024, he Is the only beati of African descent from North America.
Biography
editBorn in Cap Français in Saint-Domingue (now Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) on October 27, 1740, as the son of a French father and Black Haitian mother, Jacques Bonnaud came to France while still young to avoid racism.[1][2][3] He received his education at the College of La Flèche and entered the Jesuit novitiate on December 20, 1758. He taught for two years in Quimper, likely becoming the first Haitian professor or theologian in Europe.[4][5]
When the Jesuits were expelled from France in 1762, Bonnaud continued his ecclesiastical studies at the Saint-Firmin Seminary in Paris and then moved to the Southern Netherlands where he completed his studies in theology , civil law and canon law.[6]
After his priestly ordination, he first served the Diocese of Paris (1764). From 1783 to 1787, he was vicar general under Pierre-Louis de Leyssin, Archbishop of Embrun.[7]
Bonnaud was very present in theological and ecclesiastical controversies. In his Tartuffe épistolaire démasqué, he proved that a letter attributed to Pope Clement XIV was the work of a former priest of the Oratory, Luigi Caraccioli. He was also the author of an anti-Protestant 1787 pamphlet, Speech to be read to the Council, in the presence of the King, by a patriotic minister, on the project of granting Civil Status to Protestants, familiarly called "Mémoire de Madame de Noailles" (because she was responsible for "taking it to the members of the Council and Parliament").[8]
In 1788, Bonnaud was called to Lyon by Archbishop Yves-Alexandre de Marbeuf, who made him one of his vicars general and assigned him the priories of Sermaize and Arnicourt.[9] Bonnaud was the author of the archbishop's pastoral letter in 1789, alerting the faithful and calling on them to be vigilant and courageous in the face of imminent religious persecution during the French Revolution.
Bonnaud then settled in Paris, where he wrote pamphlets and tracts defending the rights of the Catholic Church and opposing the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which he refused to sign.[10]
Arrested around August 10, 1792, Bonnaud was locked up in the Carmes Prison in Paris, where he was massacred by the sans-culottes along with many other priests and religious during the September Massacres on September 2, 1792.[1]
Veneration
editConsidered to have died a victim of anti-Catholic persecution, Bonnaud was declared a martyr alongside his companions and was beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. As of 2024, he is still the only Black beatified person from North America.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Saints who lived in times of great unrest". Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ SJ, Armstrong, Megan and Corkery, James , SJ, and Fleming, Alison and Worcester, Thomas SJ Prieto, Andrés Ignacio Shea, Henry. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-50850-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Remembering Fr Jacques Bonnaud, SJ, the only beatified Black Catholic from North America". Black Catholic Messenger. 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ Dubois, Laurent; Glover, Kaiama L.; Ménard, Nadève; Polyné, Millery; Verna, Chantalle F. (2020-01-20). The Haiti Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-1-4780-0677-0.
- ^ Hill, Graham Joseph (2023-12-14). "Revisiting Caribbean Theological Tradition: 20 Haitian Theologians and Biblical Scholars You Should Know - Graham Joseph Hill". grahamjosephhill.com. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "September 2nd : Blessed James Bonnaud, William Defraud & 12 Companions, SJ – The Jesuits". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ Archives, Hautes-Alpes (France); departementales, Hautes-Alpes (France) Archives (1891). Inventaire sommaire des archives départementales antérieures à 1790 ...: actes du pouvoir souverain et domaine public (in French). Impr. Jouglard.
- ^ Garrisson, Charles; R., Ch. (1892). "L'abbé Bonnaud et le « Mémoire d'un Ministre patriote »". Bulletin historique et littéraire (Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français). 41 (11): 611–616. ISSN 1141-0558.
- ^ Et non Harnicourt. « Prise de possession du prieuré d'Arnicourt, au diocèse de Reims, dépendant de l'abbaye de Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, pour Jacques-Jules Bonnaud, vicaire général du diocèse de Lyon. »Inventaire-sommaire des Archives départementales antérieures à 1790: Marne, Archives ecclésiastiques, série G, clergé séculier, 1900, p. 376.
- ^ "European Martyrs of the Society of Jesus (memorial) – Society of Jesus, Chinese Province". 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2024-09-02.