24 October - Pauline, Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson and the Children’s Mission

It is important to note the special relationship between Pauline Jaricot and Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson, founder of the Society of the Holy Childhood, known today also as the Society of the Missionary Childhood, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies. Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson (1785-1844) was inspired by Pauline's intuition and the method of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith to found this Society for children. He asked himself, “why not organize something similar for children, what was done for adults in terms of missionary commitment”? He met with Pauline Jaricot and, inspired by her ideas and method, decided to create an organization in which Christian children could reach out as “missionaries” to children in mission territories.

First of all, we should note that Charles de Forbin-Janson was enthusiastic about the work of the Propagation of the Faith and the Living Rosary and prayed that they would bear fruit. It should also be noted that he organised preaching and collections to support these works when he became a priest and bishop (Catherine Masson, , Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit., p. 294; J. Servel, Un autre visage, op. Cit., p. 204). The bishop knew that Pauline was also sensitive to the fate of Chinese children. "For a long time, in fact, Miss Jaricot had been concerned about the salvation of little pagans and this thought had even been a determining factor in the foundation of the Propagation of the Faith. (J. Servel, Un autre visage, op. Cit., p. 201) But who was Charles de Forbin-Janson?

Charles de Forbin-Janson came from a family whose loyalty to the king was as important as its submission to the Church. After some time in the Condé army, he rallied to Napoleon and became, at the beginning of 1805, an auditor at the restored Council of State. He took part in the negotiations to implement the Concordat and re-establish worship in France. While his mother was arranging a grand wedding for him, Charles was already thinking about the seminary, which he entered in 1808. Among his confreres was the future founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, St. Eugene de Mazenod. Their friendship was nourished by their common desire to serve the Church. They were concerned about the de-Christianization of France after the revolution, the lack of priests and, the apparent inadequacy of some of the clergy to respond to the challenges of the time. In fact, in those days the Church faced many challenges. While attending meetings with the priests of the Parish Foreign Mission Society and as a seminarian, teaching catechism to the children of the parish of Saint-Sulpice, he heard about the activities of missionaries and in particular the missions in China, and was very concerned about the children in mission countries, especially about their preparation for First Holy Communion.

Ordained a priest in December 1811 in Chambéry, Charles de Forbin-Janson was very concerned with missionary commitment. He returned to the capital as a young priest, vacillating between the desire to remain in France and that of proclaiming the Gospel in China. Pope Pius VII, whom he asked for advice, suggested that he should first come to the aid of the people around him because France is also territory for mission. In 1815, he joined the Abbé de Rauzan in founding the "Missions de France", notably in Beauvais, Angers, Nantes and the Vendée. In 1818, he preached his first foreign mission, a seven-week mission in Turkey and in Smyrna, where he was brilliant.

On 21 November 1823, Charles was appointed Bishop of Nancy and Toul and was consecrated on 6 June 1824 in the chapel of Mont Valérien, where the Mission had been established. For various reasons, he will not really be accepted in his diocese. Close to royal power, he wrote an unfortunate letter to celebrate the capture of Algiers and aroused hatred in Freemasonry circles. The revolution of July 1830 was the occasion for the sacking of the major seminary and the curial offices. Residing outside the city and being advised not to return, he went into exile and will never see his diocese again. Auxiliaries for the diocese will be appointed leaving de Forbin-Janson the title of Bishop of Nancy and Primate of Lorraine The prelate will find another ministry, namely preaching, and with Pauline, he will help organise a group of bishops and groups of disabled priests into the living Rosary. He will be invited to the United States and Canada where he will preach, between 1838 and 1842, gathering crowds of up to 12,000 people. His profound missionary commitment brought him closer to Pauline Marie Jaricot.

After a four-month stay in Rome, during which he decided to give up his diocese in order not to provoke opposition, Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson realised that his health required him to abandon the work of evangelisation carried out in North America, which he had recently had the honour of submitting to the Holy Father. However, he continued to be very concerned with the dramatic situation of children in China. The council of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith in Lyon saw this as a possible “competition” rather than as a section of the same entity.

The council therefore expressed clear opposition to Bishop de Forbin-Janson’s project. Pauline would come to his aid, helping him to find a solution so that he could accomplish what was close to his heart (Sœur Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biographie, op. Cit., p. 230-231). Indeed, Pauline encouraged him to continue his work to give life to the Society of the Holy Childhood with the objective of saving children by children helping children. This Society will have a distinct field of action, different from that of the Propagation of the Faith, but will adopt its method and spirit. The mission of children to other children will stimulate and support the mission and commitment of adult Christians. The faith witness of the youngest can be an immense help in the great ecclesial plan of missionary cooperation.

In fact, the visit of Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson to Lyon in 1842 was very beneficial. He was haunted by thoughts that children in China, abandoned by their parents would suffer. His meeting with the foundress of the Propagation of the Faith was very successful. After reporting to Pope Gregory XVI in Rome on his evangelising work in North America, he was happy to share with Pauline his dream of founding an association for the salvation of children in un countries that had not yet been evangelized and where the Church had not yet been established (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit., pp. 294-295). He wanted to make Christian children the artisans of the salvation of their Chinese brothers and sisters. This would be the Children's “Propagation of the Faith”.

The children would donate a penny a month by denying themselves of some small pleasure in order to save their little brothers and sisters, who were victim of their parent’s behaviour and to make them live for heaven or for the apostolate. This is how the Society of the Holy (Missionary) Childhood was born, with clear links to the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. Even if the exact role played by Pauline in this project organized by Bishop de Forbin-Janson is not fully known, it is certain that both of them had a passion for the missions and that they had reciprocal influences on each other. In the deed of incorporation of the Society of the Holy (Missionary) Childhood established in Paris on 19 May 1843, the stated objective is to save children, with the help of children (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Bibliography, op. Cit., p. 231).