| The Most Reverend Francis Xavier Leray |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of New Orleans | |
| See | New Orleans |
| Enthroned | December 28, 1883 |
| Reign ended | September 23, 1887 |
| Predecessor | Napoléon-Joseph Perché |
| Successor | Francis Janssens |
| Other posts | Bishop of Natchitoches (1877-1879) Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans (1879-1883) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | March 19, 1852 |
| Consecration | April 22, 1877 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 20, 1825 Châteaugiron, Ille-et-Vilaine, France |
| Died | September 23, 1887 (aged 62) Châteaugiron, Ille-et-Vilaine, France |
Francis Xavier Leray (April 20 1825 – September 23, 1887) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Natchitoches (1877–1879) and Archbishop of New Orleans (1883–1887).
Leray was born in Châteaugiron, Ille-et-Vilaine, to René and Marie (née Roncin) Leray.[1] He studied at the College of Rennes from 1833 until 1844,[2] when he accepted an appeal for missionaries in Louisiana, United States.[3] Following his arrival, he taught for several months at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, before entering St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, where he completed his theological studies.[3] In 1852 he accompanied Bishop John J. Chanche to Natchez, Mississippi, where Leray was ordained to priesthood on March 19 of that year.[4]
He then served as pastor of Jackson, and ministered to the sick and dying during the yellow fever epidemics of 1853 and 1855.[5] Leray himself was stricken by the fever and only by great care did he recover.[2] In 1857 he was named pastor of Vicksburg, where he built the first Catholic church and in 1860 introduced the Sisters of Mercy to establish a school.[3] During the Civil War (1861-1865), he served as a chaplain to the Confederate Army of Tennessee.[1] On several occasions he was taken prisoner by Union forces but was released as soon as he was identified as a priest.[3] After the war he returned to Vicksburg, which was visited by cholera in 1867.[5] He was also vicar general of Diocese of Natchez from 1871 to 1877.[1]
On November 27, 1876, Leray was appointed the second Bishop of Natchitoches, Louisiana, by Pope Pius IX.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on April 22, 1877 from Cardinal Geoffroy Brossais Saint-Marc, with Bishop Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière and Charles Nouvel de La Flèche serving as co-consecrators, at Rennes Cathedral.[4] Leray remained in Natchitoches for only two years, being named Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans and Titular Archbishop of Ionopolis on October 23, 1879.[4] He was also charged with the administration of the financial affairs of the Archdiocese, which was left nearly $600,000 in debt from the war[6]; he managed to reduce this debt by at least half.[3]
Upon the death of Archbishop Napoléon-Joseph Perché, Leray succeeded him as the third Archbishop of New Orleans on December 28, 1883.[4] He received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from Cardinal James Gibbons in January 1884.[2] Leray attended the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in November 1884, and continued his efforts to relieve New Orleans of its immense debt for the rest of his tenure.[2] An advocate of Catholic education, he increased the number of parochial schools from 36 to 70 during his administration as well.[2] In the hope of strengthening his failing health, he returned in 1887 to his native Châteaugiron, where he died shortly afterwards at age 62.[3]
| Preceded by Augustus Marie Martin |
Bishop of Natchitoches 1877–1879 |
Succeeded by Anthony Durier |
| Preceded by Napoléon-Joseph Perché |
Archbishop of New Orleans 1883–1887 |
Succeeded by Francis Janssens |