GIBIER, CHARLES-CÉLESTIN. - Bishop of Versailles, b. at Artenay on 25 Dec. 1849, d. at Versailles on 3 Apr. 1931. The son of peasants, he entered the Seminary of Orléans at the age of fourteen and was ordained in 1873. Parish priest of S. Paterno in Orléans in 1888, he became known for remarkable proofs of zeal in the pastoral ministry, establishing and promoting a great many works,
so that he may be regarded as a precursor of Catholic Action.
Elected bishop of Versailles in 1906, at the time of the Combes laws and of the rupture of relations between the Holy See and France, he was one of the French bishops consecrated in Rome by Pius X. As a prelate he intensified his religious and social activity with impressive results: 34 new churches, 4 seminaries founded and restored, parish halls, patronages, schools; he gave special attention to farmers, founding the Union catholique de la France agricole (1917), the Oeuvre de l'adoption des petites paroisses rurales (1920), and the newspaper La Croix de Seine et Oise (1927). Above all, he showed particular concern for the work of priestly vocations, achieving excellent results.
He published several highly successful series of lectures: Conférences aux hommes (16 vols., Paris 1907–1911), concerning religion, God, Jesus Christ, the Church, the family, and society; Les devoirs de l'heure présente (10 vols., ibid. 1912–17); Les temps nouveaux (9 vols., ibid. 1918–22).
Renzo U. Montini