First bishop reinterred in Natchez VIEW GALLERY -- use arrow keys to navigate through photos By Fabvienen Taylor
NATCHEZ — Freezing temperatures and fleeting snow swept through this normally mild-weather Mississippi River town where on Saturday, Jan. 19, after 155 years, the first bishop of Mississippi, John Joseph Chanche, was reinterred on the grounds of St. Mary Basilica.
“I think Bishop Chanche would be very pleased to be back here in Natchez, where he wanted to be,” said retired Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, principal celebrant and homilist for the reinterment Mass.
Bishop Chanche, a native of Baltimore where he was ordained a Sulpician priest in 1819, died in 1852 of cholera in Maryland after attending the First Plenary Council there.
Unable to be returned to the then-Diocese of Natchez, he was buried in the Cathedral Cemetery and later reinterred in the new Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore.
At the request of Bishop Joseph Latino of the Diocese of Jackson, Cardinal Keeler, in early 2007 approved the exhumation and transfer of Bishop Chanche’s remains.
“I think Bishop Chanche would be honored that we brought him back to his final resting place and delighted Cardinal Keeler could be here,” said Father David O’Connor, pastor of St. Mary Basilica.
Father Ronald Witherup, provincial superior of the Society of St. Sulpice in the United States, and a concelebrant, imagined Bishop Chanche was “beaming.”
“First, because he’s home and second because he doesn’t have to face exhumation one more time,” he said. “He’s probably happy about that.”
Concelebrating with Cardinal Keeler were Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Bishops Joseph Latino of Jackson, Thomas Rodi of Bilioxi, Roger Morin, auxiliary of New Orleans, Ronald Herzog of Alexandria, and retired Bishops William Houck of Jackson, David Foley of Birmingham and Dominic Carmon, auxiliary of New Orleans and priests of the Jackson diocese.
In his homily, Cardinal Keeler said Bishop Chanche, like the prophet Jeremiah “shrank from being put over others,” and initially asked not to be named a bishop.
But he accepted the call in 1841 to be bishop of Natchez, said Cardinal Keeler, and tried to be an example in caring for the people of Natchez and in securing priests for them.
In 1841 when he arrived in Natchez, according to the archives, there were no Catholic churches and few priests. At the time of his death in 1852, there were 11 churches and 13 priests.
Father Witherup said Baltimore archival records describe Bishop Chanche as “very tall, very dignified man, an attractive person with a handsome composure who was well-educated and a noted theologian in his own right.”
“When he died there was a tremendous outpouring of sorrow and loss for him of course here in Natchez but also in Baltimore,” Father Witherup said.
In his remarks at the end of the Mass, Bishop Latino said Saturday’s celebration had three purposes: to reinter Bishop Chanche on the grounds of the first church he built; to recall and reflect on the noble history of the church in Mississippi and its connection to the Mother See of Baltimore; to thank all of those who have gone before in faith – bishops, clergy, religious and laity — for their sacrafices in bulidng the church in Mississippi; and finally, the event directs the diocese not only to the past but also the future.
“Today I feel this is a very exciting time to be Catholic in our diocese. Yes we face many challenges in our ministries, but we shoudl face those challenges with the same courage, faith, hope and love that Bishop John Joseph Chanche exhibited when he came to Mississippi in 1841,” he said.
On a related note, Cardinal Keeler was principal celebrant for the Mass in 1999 elevating St. Mary to a minor basilica.
“Cardinal Keeler was so cooperative in approving Bishop Chanche’s exhumation and returning the remains,” said Father O’Connor. “And Bishop Latino was so encouraging of everything and prepared a wonderful liturgy today.”
