Francis Paul Libermann (1804-1852)

Today marks the death of Francis Libermann (1804-1852), founder of a missionary order. Born Jacob Libermann in Alsace, the son of a Rabbi, he converted to Catholicism and was ordained a priest in 1841. He soon founded a community, the Congrregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which worked both with Africans and with people of the African Disapora. In 1848, he merged his community with the Holy Ghost Fathers (now known as the Spiritans), founded in France in 1703. He is known as the Spiritans’ second founder. As Superior General of the newly merged community, he urged an approach of inculturation and encouraged native vocations. He urged them not to beseen as agentsa of imperialism: “The people must never consider you as a political agent; they should see you only as the priest of the Almighty.” He never never went overseas, but he formed thousands of missionaries around the world. In 1876 Pope Pius IX declared him Venerable.