Jean-Baptiste Brondel


Jean-Baptiste Brondel was a Belgian-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served in Canada as Bishop of Vancouver Island and in the United States as Bishop of Helena.

Biography

Jean-Baptiste Brondel was born in Bruges to Charles Joseph and Isabella Brondel. One of seven children, he was the youngest of his parents' five sons; his eldest brother and one of his sisters also pursued religious careers. He received his early education from the Xaverian Brothers in his native city. In 1852, he entered the College of St. Louis in Bruges, where he studied for ten years. Inspired by the works of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, he decided to become a missionary in North America. He then studied philosophy and theology at the American College of Louvain.
Brondel was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Engelbert Sterckx on 17 December 1864. At age 24, he was below the age requirement for ordination but was granted a dispensation by Pope Pius IX. He continued his studies at the American College for two more years, and arrived at Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, in 1866. He taught at Holy Angels College in Vancouver for one year before coming to the Washington Territory, where he served as rector of the church at Steilacoom with its attendant missions for ten years. During his tenure there, he also built churches in Tacoma and Olympia. He was transferred to Walla Walla in 1877, but returned to Steilacoom the following year.
On 26 September 1879, Brondel was appointed the third Bishop of Vancouver Island by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 14 December from Archbishop Charles J. Seghers. The diocese included Vancouver Island, which was a British territory, as well as Alaska, which belonged to the United States. He continued to serve as bishop until 7 April 1883, when he was named Vicar Apostolic of Montana. The vicariate was later elevated to the Diocese of Helena on 7 March 1884, with Brondel becoming its first bishop.
During his tenure, Brondel traveled throughout the state, establishing several new parishes and building churches. He also significantly increased the number of priests; by 1903, the number of seminarians in Montana increased from one to thirteen. He took a particular interest in the evangelization of Native Americans, and the United States government often used his popularity among that community to further its welfare. He died at Helena at age 61, and was buried in a vault under the cathedral of that city.