Besson, Marius

BESSON, MARIUS. - Historian and writer, bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, b. in Turin on 28 June 1876, but a native of Chapelle-sur-Moudon (canton of Vaud, Switzerland), d. in Fribourg on 24 Feb. 1945. Ordained priest on 23 July 1899, professor of history at the Collège St-Michel (1907), of ecclesiastical history, patristics and sacred eloquence at the seminary (1907-20), of medieval history at the University of Fribourg (1908-20), first parish priest of St-Rédempteur in Lausanne (1916-19) and superior of the seminary (1919-20), he was elected bishop on 5 May 1920. A zealous pastor, of a vast and solid theological and historical-critical culture, he exercised a notable influence in his diocese, in cantonal political circles and in the international circles of the League of Nations in Geneva, in international cultural organizations, in those of Catholic Action and charitable assistance, and in Protestant circles, where he was known for his eminently conciliatory spirit. His special attachment to the Holy See was known to all. Msgr. B. is considered one of the most brilliant representatives of the contemporary Catholic episcopate.

Besides his pastoral letters and some discourses, which constitute a valuable collection of 11 vols., he left a long series of publications and articles of both a strictly scholarly character and of high popularization. Among the former, mention must be made of: Recherches sur les origines des évêchés de Genève, Lausanne et Sion et leurs premiers titulaires jusqu'au déclin du VIᵉ siècle (Fribourg

1906); Contribution à l'histoire du diocèse de Lausanne sous la domination franque, 534-888 (ibid. 1908); L'art barbare dans l'ancien diocèse de Lausanne (Lausanne 1909); Antiquités du Valais, Vᵉ-Xᵉ siècle (Fribourg 1910); Monasterium Acaunense. Etude critique sur les origines de l'abbaye de St-Maurice en Valais (ibid. 1913); L'Eglise et l'imprimerie dans les anciens diocèses de Lausanne et de Genève jusqu'en 1525 (2 vols., Geneva 1937-38). He was also an active contributor to the Revue d'hist. ecclés. suisse and founder of the Revue Charlemagne (Paris 1911), whose purpose was to illustrate the Carolingian age.

Of the works of popularization, special mention deserves to be made of: Nos origines chrétiennes (Fribourg 1921, 2nd ed. Geneva 1940); L'Eglise et la Bible (ibid. 1927); Saint Pierre et les origines de la primauté romaine (ibid. 1929); La Sainte Vierge (ibid. 1942). His efforts to find a path of understanding between Catholics and Protestants are documented by two volumes that had great resonance: La route aplanie (1930, 11 eds., trans. into Italian [Brescia 1932], German and Dutch) and Après Quatre Cents Ans (1933, 4 eds., trans. into German). He cooperated in the founding of the weekly L'Echo vaudois, of which he was director (1910-19), of the Swiss Catholic review Nova et Vetera (1926), of the weekly L'Echo illustré (1929), etc. Msgr. B. regarded the Catholic press as a powerful weapon of apostolate, for which reason he promoted its diffusion in every way. In all his writings he sought to be constantly precise and clear in the exposition of doctrine and in historical information, careful in literary form and in typographical presentation, which he always wanted to be artistic.

A. Pietro Frutaz