Jean-François Hubert | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Jean-François Hubert

Jean-François Hubert, Roman Catholic bishop (b at Québec City 23 Feb 1739; d there 17 Oct 1797).

Hubert, Jean-François

Jean-François Hubert, Roman Catholic bishop (b at Québec City 23 Feb 1739; d there 17 Oct 1797). Educated at the SÉMINAIRE DE QUÉBEC and ordained a priest in 1766, he became in December 1774 the first Canadian superior of the Séminaire, but he resigned in 1778 and joined the church's Illinois mission. Coadjutor bishop in 1786, in 1788 he became bishop of Québec, and in 1789 he successfully opposed establishment of a nonconfessional university at Québec. He supported the British government against revolutionary France in the 1790s and was allowed to bring refugee French priests to his diocese, which was suffering an acute shortage of clergy. Worn out by a momentous and active episcopacy during which he favoured moderation and traditionalism, Hubert resigned in September 1797 and died the next month.