FRANÇOIS-DÉSIRÉ MATHIEU. — Cardinal, b. at Einville (diocese of Nancy) 28 May 1839, d. at London 26 Oct. 1908. Ordained priest in 1859, he served as curate at Pont-à-Mousson, was elected bishop of Angers in 1893, and in 1896 archbishop of Toulouse. Of simple manners but lively apostolic zeal, he maintained a popular stance that won him the esteem and affection of his diocesans and fellow citizens.
On Church-State relations, in a Lenten pastoral of February 1897, M. claimed for Catholics and the clergy wide freedom of political and legal action, to be exercised through the organization of a party, the election of their own candidates to Parliament, and the defense of their religious faith within the framework of the political rights recognized for every citizen. In the Consistory of 19 June 1899, Leo XIII created him cardinal with the title of S. Sabina. Eager to contribute to more cordial relations between France and the Holy See, he was deeply disappointed in this aim by the 1905 separation. A conscientious and meticulous historian, he published a volume on the Napoleonic Concordat (Le Concordat de 1807, Paris 1903). In 1906 he was elected to the Académie française. He died at London, whither he had gone to attend that Eucharistic Congress.
SILVIO FURLANI