Ferdinand Perier

Ferdinand Perier, third Archbishop
of Calcutta (now Kolkata)

Ferdinand Perier, S.J., D.D. (22 September 1875, Antwerp, Belgium – 10 November 1968, Calcutta, India), was a Jesuit priest, a missionary in British India, and the third Archbishop of Calcutta (now Kolkata).

Early Years

Fernandus Augustus Maria Josephus Perier was born on 22 September 1875 in Antwerp, Belgium, the son of the wealthy merchant and his wife, Felix Joannes Baptista Augustus Perier and Leonia Josephina Ferleman.[1] After he finished his studies at the Jesuit College in Antwerp, Ferdinand worked for four years in commerce. He did so well with his knowledge of maritime law that, when he decided to join the Society of Jesus on 23 September 1897, he was the director of a successful shipping insurance company.

Perier went through the first two stages of the Jesuit formation, the novitiate in Tronchiennes, a neighborhood of Ghent, between 1897 and 1899, and the juniorate between 1899-1900. Then he studied philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain for three years, between 1900 and 1903. Perier taught for two years, in 1904 and 1905, as a professor of Grammar and Flemish at the second Collège Saint-Michel, a Jesuit high school in Brussels.

At his request, Perier was sent to India. He arrived in Calcutta on 9 December 1906. His formation continued with his studies in theology at the Jesuit theological college in Kurseong (1907-1911), where he was also ordained on 3 October 1909. He then went to Ranchi for his Third Year, the last stage of his Jesuit formation. Two years later, in 1911, he was appointed as the Procurator of the Mission and the Secretary of Brice Meuleman, S.J., the Archbishop of Calcutta. His formation finally ended in the next year, on 2 February 1912, when he took his Profession of the Fourth Vow in Ranchi.

Superior Regular and Coadjutor Bishop

In August 1913, Perier became the Superior Regular of the West Bengal Mission as well as the Counselor of the Archdiocese. The next eight years were "the most strenuous years of his life".[2] The First World War began in 1914 and Belgium, the main source of the Mission’s funds, was invaded by the Germans so the funds were gone until the Armistice in 1918. It was "a financial coup de force to keep it going"[2] but Périer’s experiences as a merchant proved to be invaluable. When the Armistice was signed in 1918, he had already added two churches, one mission station and the whole Assam Mission to the Bengal Mission. But his success came at a great cost. Twenty-one missionaries died and the expenditures were only a third of the Mission’s original budget. During his term as the Superior Regular, Périer went to Europe twice - at the end of 1914, after the war began, to attend the General Congregation of the Jesuits and in 1920 to attend the Provincial Congregation of the Belgian Jesuits and to represent Archbishop Meuleman for his ad limina visit to Rome.[2]

In 1921, for his efforts, Perier was promoted on 11 August and consecrated on 21 December, to the rank of Coadjutor Bishop, with the title of Titular Archbishop of Plataea[3] and the right of automatic succession, by Archbishop Meuleman. When health problems forced the Archbishop to resign on 23 June 1924, Perier, being the Coadjutor Bishop, automatically succeeded him as the third Archbishop of Calcutta.

Archbishop of Calcutta

As the new Archbishop, Perier was "a firm believer in an Indian clergy and in the Papal policy as outlined in Pope Benedict [XV]’s famous encyclical on the missions," Maximum Illud (Latin, "The Greatest Thing").[2]

After his retirement, Perier remained in Calcutta from 1960 to 1962, with his own room at his former residence, the "Archbishop’s House" at 30 Park Street, and then moved to Kurseong for three more years, from 1962 to 1965. In 1965, he was back in Calcutta, this time with the rooms at St. Xavier's College, where he died on 10 November 1968.

Legacy

É. R. Hambye, a Jesuit historian, ended his brief biography of Archbishop Perier with the following epitaph:[6]

“Su lemma episcopal, In omnibus quaeram Deum, fue de hecho el de su vida de jesuita y misionero. Hombre muy devoto, asceta y enérgico, paciente y dueño de sí, amó la liturgia y a los pobres y, siempre disponsible y amable, fue verdaderamente un obispo del pueblo." [Spanish, "His episcopal motto, In omnibus quaeram Deum [Latin, "In everything, ask God"], guided his life as a Jesuit and missionary. Devout, ascetic and energetic man, patient and self-possessed, he loved the liturgy and the poor and, always friendly and available, he was truly a bishop of the town."]

References

  1. ↑ (Dutch) Fernandus Augustus Maria Josephus Perier, Birth Certificate No. 4325, filed 22 September 1875, Register of Births for the Year 1875, Antwerp, Province of Antwerp, Belgium; in: FamilySearch, "Belgium, Antwerp, Civil Registration, 1598-1906", Antwerpen, Geboorten 1875 Juli-Dec [Births 1875 July-Dec], Image No. 114 (left page, item 10).
  2. 1 2 3 4 (English) "Perier", Catholic Directory of India 1922, pages 20-21
  3. ↑ Perier was the 11th holder of his titular see, which was originally established in 1671 for the Byzantine Rite Apostolic Vicars (Eparchs) of Marča in modern Croatia, then a part of the Ottoman Empire, but the see has been vacant since 1965. See (English) "Plataea (Titular See) Plataeaënsis", Catholic Hierarchy for more details.
  4. ↑ (English) "Adaptations of Seminary Training", The Clergy Monthly, 1944–1945, Volume 8, pages 189-198
  5. ↑ Rhoina is the Latin name of Sultanhani in the ancient region of Lycaonia in modern Turkey. This see was established in 1933 for Rhoina but it has been vacant since 1968, with the death of its fourth and last holder, Archbishop Perier. See (English) "Rhoina (Titular See) Rhoinensis" at Catholic Hierarchy for more details.
  6. ↑ (Spanish) Hambye, "Perier, Ferdinand", in: Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús, Tomo III [Historical Dictionary of the Society of Jesus, Volume III], page 3098

Bibliography

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Brice Meuleman		 3rd Archbishop of Calcutta
1924–1960 		Succeeded by
Vivan Anthony Dyer
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