SIGNAY, Joseph - A Stan Klos Biography
SIGNAY, Joseph (seen-yay),
Canadian archbishop, born in Quebec, 8 November, 1778; died there, 3 October,
1850. He studied philosophy and theology in the Seminary of Quebec, was ordained
priest in Longueil, 28 March, 1802, and was appointed assistant pastor at
Chambly, and subsequently at Longueil. In 1804 he became parish priest of St.
Constant, and he was transferred to Sainte-Marie-de Ramsay in 1805.
He went as missionary to Lake Champlain in 1806, to take
charge of the French Canadians that had settled in its neighborhood, but in 1814
he was appointed pastor of Quebec. He was chosen coadjutor to Bishop Panet in
1826, named bishop of Fussala by a bull of Leo XII the same year, and
consecrated under this title on 20 May, 1827. He became administrator of the
diocese on 13 October, 1832, and on 14 February, 1833, succeeded to the
bishopric of Quebec.
Bishop Signay excited hostility among part of his flock by
his efforts to prevent the Irish from building a church in Quebec, and, after it
was erected, by his refusal to visit it. During the cholera epidemic of 1833 he
displayed the utmost zeal and devotion. The same year he selected Pierre Flavien
Turgeon as his coadjutor. The letter that he wrote on this occasion to the
British ministry, praying them to sanction his choice, was considered by a large
number of his flock to be humiliating and unnecessary, as the approval of the
English authorities in the case of Canadian bishops was no longer required.
In 1844 the dioceses of Upper and Lower Canada were erected
into an ecclesiastical province, on the demand of the Canadian clergy, and the
dioceses of Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto were placed under the metropolitan
jurisdiction of Quebec, which was created an archbishopric. Although the title
of archbishop had been given to his two predecessors, he was the first that was
entitled to it officially. Several months after his nomination he received the
pallium, which was brought to him from Rome.
He showed great activity and disinterestedness during the
conflagration that destroyed part of Quebec in 1845, sharing his means with
those that were ruined; and during the ship fever of 1847 and 1848 he rivaled
his priests in his personal sacrifices for the victims. In 1849 he found it
necessary, from physical weakness, to confide the administration of the
archdiocese to his coadjutor. The pastorals and other letters of Archbishop
Signay are published in the 3d volume of the "Mandements des eveques de Quebec,"
which also contains a biography.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001
VirtualologyTM
SIGNAY, Joseph (seen-yay), Canadian archbishop, born in Quebec, 8 November, 1778 ; died there, 3 October, 1850. He studied philosophy and theology in the Seminary of Quebec, was ordained priest in Longueil, 28 March, 1802, and was appointed assistant pastor at Chambly, and subsequently at Longueil. In 1804 he became parish priest of St. Constant, and he was transferred to Sainte-Marie-de Ramsay in 1805. He went as missionary to Lake Champlain in 1806, to take charge of the French Canadians that had settled in its neighborhood, but in 1814 he was appointed pastor of Quebec. He was chosen coadjutor to Bishop Panet in 1826, named bishop of Fussala by a bull of Leo XII. the same year, and consecrated under this title on 20 May, 1827. He became administrator of the diocese on 13 October, 1832, and on 14 February, 1833, succeeded to the bishopric of Quebec. Bishop Signay excited hostility among part of his flock by his efforts to prevent the Irish from building a church in Quebec, and, after it was erected, by his refusal to visit it. During the cholera epidemic of 1833 he displayed the utmost zeal and devotion. The same year he selected Pierre Flavien Turgeon as his coadjutor. The letter that he wrote on this occasion to the British ministry, praying them to sanction his choice, was considered by a large number of his flock to be humiliating and unnecessary, as the approval of the English authorities in the case of Canadian bishops was no longer required. In 1844 the dioceses of Upper and Lower Canada were erected into an ecclesiastical province, on the demand of the Canadian clergy, and the dioceses of Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto were placed under the metropolitan jurisdiction of Quebec, which was created an archbishopric. Although the title of archbishop had been given to his two predecessors, he was the first that was entitled to it officially. Several months after his nomination he received the pallium, which was brought to him from Rome. He showed great activity and disinterestedness during the conflagration that destroyed part of Quebec in 1845, sharing his means with those that were ruined ; and during the ship fever of t847 and 1848 he rivalled his priests in his personal sacrifices for the victims. In 1849 he found it necessary, from physical weakness, to confide the administration of the archdiocese to his coadjutor. The pastorals and other letters of Archbishop Signay are published in the 3d volume of the " Mandements des eveques de Quebec," which also contains a biography.
