Dupanloup

Dupanloup, Felix Antoine Philibert (1802-1878), a French prelate born at St. Felix, near Chambery, in Savoy. He was brought up by his uncle, a country priest, and went when quite young to Paris. In 1821 he entered the seminary of Issy, and was ordained in 1824. Having been appointed vicar of the Madeleine, he made a great impression by his eloquence, and his further nomination as confessor of the little Duke of Bordeaux, and later of Talleyrand, brought him more into notice. His style of preaching has been described as "limpid as a blue sky," but "brilliant and cold." He was a member of the Sorbonne in 1841, and shortly afterwards he went to Rome, where he was feted and made much of. On his return to France he came forward as the champion of Catholicism, and was the moving spirit of the paper Ami de la Religion, which acted as the counterpoise to the erratic Univers. He was made Bishop of Orleans and member of the Educational Commission, and distinguished himself by vigorous opposition to the campaign that was being fought against the classics as part of the regular course of education. In 1854 he was elected an Academician, He was a great champion of the Pope's temporal power, but was opposed to the dogma of Infallibility, though of course, when it was declared, he acquiesced in it. During the Franco-Prussian war he displayed great patriotic feeling, and in 1871 he became deputy for Orleans. He was devoted to the poor, and an enthusiast in education.