GIBIER, CHARLES-CÉLESTIN. — Bishop of Versailles, b. at Artenay on 25 Dec. 1849, d. at Versailles on 3 Apr. 1931. Son of peasants, he entered the seminary of Orléans at the age of fourteen and was ordained in 1873. In 1888 he became parish priest of S. Paterno in Orléans, where he became widely known for his singular zeal in pastoral ministry, founding and promoting numerous works, so much so that he may be considered a precursor of Catholic Action.
Gibbons, James - Portrait.
Elected bishop of Versailles in 1906 at the time of the Combès laws and the rupture of relations between the Holy See and France, he was one of the French bishops consecrated in Rome by Pius X. As bishop he intensified his religious and social activity with impressive results: 34 new churches, 4 seminaries founded and restored, parish halls, patronage societies, schools; he took special care in favor of farmers, founding the Union catholique de la France agricole (1917), the Œuvre de l'adoption des petites paroisses rurales (1920), and the newspaper La Croix de Seine et Oise (1927). He showed particular concern for the work of priestly vocations, achieving excellent results.
He published various highly successful series of conferences: Conférences aux hommes (16 vols., Paris 1907–1911) on 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).
