Benjamin Pâquet was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic priest and educationist. He was an extremely influential and controversial figure in 19th century Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 religious politics, making numerous enemies amongst the French-Canadian ultramontane elite of the period. Three times his name was cited for potential bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

ry, but each time his opponents successfully lobbied against his nomination or the decision makers simply settled for a less controversial choice.

Biography

Pâquet was born in 1832 in Saint-Nicolas

Saint-Nicolas, Quebec

Saint-Nicolas is a district of the city of Lévis, Quebec, Canada on the St. Lawrence River.-History:The history of Saint-Nicolas goes back to 1694. It is one of the oldest parishes in Canada...

, near Lévis

Levis

-People:*François de Gaston, Chevalier de Lévis , French soldier best known for his command in Canada in 1760*George Levis , American college basketball player and coach*Georges Lévis , French adult comic artist-Places:Canada...

, in what was then Lotbinière County, on the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River

The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

 opposite Québec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. The son of farmers Étienne Pâquet and Ursule Lambert, he was descended from an old, pious family of the area, and was closely related to theologian Louis-Adolphe Pâquet

Louis-Adolphe Paquet

Louis-Adolphe Paquet was an influential French-Canadian theologian from the late 19th early 20th century, and a major North American proponent and actor in the rebirth of Neo-Scholasticism...

 as well as to provincial MLA

Member of the Legislative Assembly

A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

 Étienne-Théodore Pâquet

Étienne-Théodore Pâquet

Étienne-Théodore Pâquet was a French-Canadian civil law notary, and provincial politician and civil servant. In 1879, he was one of four Liberal Members of the Legislative Assembly who crossed the floor in the middle of a parliamentary crisis, causing the Joly de Lotbinière government to...

 (both nephews). His higher studies, as well as those of his younger brother Louis-Honoré

Louis-Honoré Pâquet

Louis-Honoré Pâquet was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic priest and university teacher, as well as celebrated orator of his time.-Biography:...

, were financed by his homonymous uncle, a wealthy merchant. Benjamin entered the Petit Séminaire de Québec in 1845.

Theological studies and teaching

In 1849, he was prompted by his mother, returning from a pilgrimage at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, to become a priest. His studies completed, he immediately enrolled at the Grand Séminaire, where his major achievement was relaunching the student newspaper, L'Abeille ("the Bee"), launched in the 1840s and whose publication had stopped. He was ordained

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

 in his home parish by then Bishop of Vancouver Island

Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria

The Diocese of Victoria is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Headquartered in Victoria, the diocese encompasses all of Vancouver Island and several nearby British Columbia islands. A suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, the diocese's...

 Modeste Demers

Modeste Demers

Modeste Demers was a Roman Catholic Bishop and missionary in the Oregon Country. A native of Quebec, he traveled overland to the Pacific Northwest and preached in the Willamette Valley and later in what would become British Columbia.-Early life:...

, himself a Saint-Nicolas native. Assigned as assistant priest at Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral

The Cathedral-minor basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec , located at 20, rue de Buade, Quebec City, Quebec, is the primate church of Canada and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec, the oldest see in the New World north of Mexico.It is also the parish church of the oldest parish in North...

 (a fairly elevated office for a starting priest), he was specifically in charge of servicing Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church. In 1862, however, he requested a teaching position at the Petit Seminaire, a request he was granted.

The next year, he was one of three priests (the other two being his brother, and future Archbishop Cardinal of Quebec Louis-Nazaire Bégin) selected to become Doctors of Theology

Doctor of Theology

Doctor of Theology is a terminal academic degree in theology. It is a research degree that is considered by the U.S. National Science Foundation to be the equivalent of a Doctor of Philosophy....

 in Europe as future teachers of the faculty of theology. There he enrolled at the Pontifical Gregorian University

Pontifical Gregorian University

The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...

, where he and his brother arrived in the middle of the start-of-year rush. Jokingly referring to themselves as "savages", the pair integrated well. Pâquet soon demonstrated, in addition to theology, a keen interest in people and events, commenting on the inner politics and controversies of the time such as the Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 ultramontanes' struggle, under the leadership of Ignace Bourget

Ignace Bourget

Ignace Bourget was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several courses of religious study, and in 1837 was named co-adjutor bishop of the newly...

, to establish an independent university. He rapidly began acquiring knowledge about the Roman Curia

Roman Curia

The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...

 and develop connections with various figures. In Rome, Louis-Honoré became very ill, and Benjamin promised that should his brother recover, he'd build a chapel to the Virgin Mary, which he did upon in return. It is the modern Notre-Dame-de-Grâce chapel.

Upon his return in 1866 he was appointed to Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

's faculty, and soon thereafter got himself involved in one of numerous controversies that would pit him against Alexis Pelletier, a virulently polemic ultramontane who would remain one of his staunchest opponents. This first clash was related to Frenchman Jean-Joseph Gaume

Jean-Joseph Gaume

Jean-Joseph Gaume was a French Roman Catholic theologian and author.-Life:While attached to the Diocese of Nevers, he was successively professor of theology, director of the petit séminaire, canon, and vicar-general of the diocese, and had already published several works, when he left for Rome in...

's crusade to remove pagan authors from the classical curriculum, which Pelletier echoed in Canada. While in Rome, Pâquet had supported Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau

Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau

Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Quebec from 1871 until his death in 1898...

 and Thomas-Étienne Hamel

Thomas-Étienne Hamel

Thomas-Étienne Hamel was a French-Canadian priest and academic. He was the son of Victor Hamel, a merchant and Therèse DeFoy....

 against him, and Pelletier retorted with such vehement accusations that bishop Charles-François Baillargeon

Charles-François Baillargeon

Charles-François Baillargeon was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and archbishop.He was from Lower Canada and studied at the Collège de Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud and Collège de Nicolet followed by four years of theology at Quebec where his choice of the priesthood was confirmed...

 sent a pastoral letter

Pastoral letter

A Pastoral letter, often called simply a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of his diocese, or to both, containing either general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumstances...

 that threatened the anonymous accuser with canonical suspension.

At the university Pâquet taught a number of classes, and became dean of the faculty of theology in 1871, a position he'd maintain until 1879. His last five lectures in his 1871-1872 laws of the nations course specifically discussed the explosive topic of liberalism

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

. In them, he refuted the most radical form based on the arguments from various papal teachings, revealing himself a moderate ultramontane and carefully avoiding to touch the more troublesome local aspects (the rise of the Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

, which its opponents saw as "an anti-catholic party"), primarily because "the term did not have the same meaning [in Canada] as in Europe." These teachings were seen by all as displaying "bulletproof orthodoxy", which didn't keep Pelletier from denouncing them on his own alone in newspapers and a pamphlet. These attacks proved fruitless, and the text was hailed in La Civiltà Cattolica

La Civiltà Cattolica

La Civiltà Cattolica is a Rome based Italian biweekly magazine printed by the Jesuits. The bimonthly journal was founded in 1850 with papal funding by order of the Pope and readers have recognised it as representing contemporary Vatican opinion. It has been praised and highly regarded by readers...

as "the most faithful echo of Roman doctrines." A revised and corrected edition was issued in 1877 in Rome.

Second trip to Rome

In 1873 Pâquet's candidacy for the then Diocese of Kingston

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in Canada that includes part of the Province of Ontario and includes the suffragan dioceses of Alexandria-Cornwall, Peterborough, and Sault Sainte Marie....

 was successfully opposed, and that same year he resigned, citing health issues. Then-rector Hamel allowed him one year in Europe to recover. Pâquet was granted money so he could eventually provide some services to the University. It didn't take long before Pâquet was again deeply involved in defending the University's interests in Rome, and the year turned into five.

From Rome he became little short of a mastermind to the events at home. He collected inside information sent to him from Quebec and Rome, and used it to direct and advice Hamel and Taschereau, even going so far as to compare himself to Napoleon. Amongst his informers were Hospice-Anthelme Verreau

Hospice-Anthelme Verreau

Hospice-Anthelme Verreau was a French-Canadian priest, educator, and historian.Born in l'Islet, P.Q., Lower Canada, the son of Germain-Alexandre Verreau and Ursule Fournier, Verreau left his classical course at the Quebec Seminary and taught at Ste Thérèse College...

 in Montreal, Calixte Marquis in Nicolet, Joseph-Sabin Raymond in Saint-Hyacinthe, and Zepherino Zitelli and Alessandro Cardinal Franchi from the then Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He spent a lot to increase his influence, and gained over that time several appointments: apostolic protonotary (1876), privy chamberlain (1877), and adviser to the Congregation of the Index (1878).

He succeeded in causing the fall of Bourget's plans for a university in Montreal, and eventually managed to have Laval canonical erected (although Édouard-Charles Fabre

Édouard-Charles Fabre

Édouard-Charles Fabre was Archbishop of Montreal in 1886 and of Sherbrooke and Saint-Hyacinthe in 1887.Fabre was the eldest of 11 children in an important Montreal business family...

 later secured virtual independence for what would eventually become the Université de Montréal

Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...

). Rome would from that point forward support Laval. Pâquet also fought Bourget's refusal to split the Parish of Notre-Dame, and Louis-François Laflèche's opposition to the new diocese of Nicolet. In addition to these endeavour, he was also postulator

Postulator

The person who guides a Cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church is known as the postulator. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the Norms to be Observed in Inquiries made by Bishops in the...

 for the beatification of Marie de l'Incarnation.

Return to Quebec and later life

Laflèche was of the opinion that "the true Catholics could not get a hearing at Rome because of Pâquet's obstructiveness, and at Quebec Archbishop Taschereau, deceived by the same man and by the university, was helping to defeat the Catholic forces and to swell the ranks of the freemasons and antireligious forces." For all this Pâquet attracted universal loathing from the ultramontanes, and many of the province's bishops requested his return in 1878, seeing him as the prime source of strife amongst the clergy. He returned, but primarily for health reasons, and was deeply ill upon his return. The vicar of Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Luc Desilets, "saw his coming death as a sign of God's mercy to the country."

Pâquet took various positions at the seminary until 1887, when he was appointed superior, and thus rector of the university; that same year he was appointed a domestic prelate. During that period, his name was also suggested as bishop of the new diocese of Nicolet, but a more neutral nominee (Elphège Gravel

Elphège Gravel

Elphège Gravel was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and the 1st Bishop of Nicolet, Québec from 1885 to 1904.-References:...

) was eventually selected. Pâquet again returned to Rome in 1886 and 1888 to defend the university. In 1892, a year before leaving his rectorate, a proposal to nominate him to the new diocese of Chicoutimi

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicoutimi

The Diocese of Chicoutimi is a Roman Catholic diocese in Quebec, centered around the borough of Chicoutimi in the city of Saguenay. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Quebec.-References:...

 was abandoned because of fierce opposition (Louis-Nazaire Bégin became bishop). Laflèche called him "one of the main causes of the religious difficulties that have arisen over the past 30 years in the province of Quebec".

At this point he experienced a period of doubt. He refused the parish of Notre-Dame-de-L’Annonciation, in L'Ancienne-Lorette, even though he had requested it be kept for him, and even considered entering the orders. His health tormenting him, he retired to a country retirement house for priests, the Ermitage, he had built in 1890 on the familial estate in Saint-Nicolas, right next to the 1866 Chapel. Pâquet had inherited a good sum from his uncle, and was a skilled investor himself, so that he lived without need. After his death in early 1900, he was buried in the seminary's chapel, the reconstruction of which he had financed after a fire in 1888.

Legacy

Pâquet helped secure the status of Université Laval in the eyes of Rome. He remained all his life a controversial public figure, so that both his strong points and his shortcomings were widely known. Although an influential, pious man with a deep respect for his offices, he was also domineering and tended to have strong disagreements with just about everybody he worked alongside: "he gave advice, but above all he liked to have his advice followed." Primarily an ideologue, he had fairly little interest in scholarly debate.

Most of Pâquet's papers accumulated during his functions at the seminary and university are kept at the former as the Fonds Benjamin Paquet. The Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Pâquet family home are provincial historic places listed on the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec

Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec

The Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec is the official heritage register of Quebec. It is under the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine. It includes both buildings and structures as well as smaller ojects such as documents, artifacts, and works of art...

, and part of Saint-Nicolas Heritage Site

Saint-Nicolas Heritage Site

The Saint-Nicolas Heritage Site is a small municipal historic district located in the western part of Lévis, Quebec. It encompasses a group of a half-dozen properties and their dependencies that developed around the estate of a major family. Most of the buildings date from the 19th century, with...

, the equivalent of a local historic district

Historic district

A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....

.