TURINAZ, CHARLES-FRANÇOIS. — Bishop, b. at Chambéry on 2 Feb. 1838, d. at Nancy on 19 Oct. 1918. He earned degrees in theology and canon law at the Collegio Romano in Rome.
For a time he served as secretary to Cardinal Billet and then taught theology at the seminary in his native city. In 1873 he was appointed Bishop of Tarentaise, and on 30 March 1882 he was promoted to Bishop of Nancy and Toul. In 1891 he proposed the formation of an episcopal commission with the aim of achieving, on a purely religious plane and above all political divisions, a union of all priests and laity—both to support government authorities when they were disposed to guarantee religious peace and to resist those authorities when they pursued anti-Catholic policies. This proposal was reiterated by T. in April 1892 with the publication of the pamphlet *Sauvons la France chrétienne! Appel aux catholiques, aux libéraux sincères, aux honnêtes gens de tous les partis*. His appeal met with hesitation from the episcopate, but not from the government, which, aware of the importance of uniting French Catholics into a solid bloc, quickly suspended his stipend under the pretext that a law of the tenth Germinal forbade bishops from entering into agreements. T.’s stance remained equally firm in the years that followed. As a “frontier bishop,” he devoted himself tirelessly to his diocese, promoting the construction of new churches and the strengthening of the faith. Among his works are: *Œuvres pastorales* (2 vols., 1881–90); *Les Concordats et l'obligation réciproque qu'ils imposent à l'Église et à l'État* (1888); *Projet de séparation de l'Église et de l'État* (1905); *Nouvelles atteintes aux droits et aux libertés des catholiques de France* (1908). In 1913, though retaining his residential see, he was promoted to titular Archbishop of Pisidian Antioch.