Victor Poupinel

François Victor Poupinel

General Assistant for the Missions 1873-1884

Victor Poupinel was born in Vassy, Calvados, France in the diocese of Bayeux on 14 November 1815 to Marie Anne Vautier (1789-1862) and Jacques Poupinel (1793-1826), watchmaker.

From an early age Victor had shown signs of a vocation, which was nurtured by his mother and maternal uncle, Abbé Jean-Baptiste Vautier (1792-1871), parish priest of Saint-Sauveur, Condé-sur-Noireau, Calvados. It is highly likely that Victor’s mother took Victor and his two brothers (Paul 1818-1833, Adolphe 1821-1843) to live with her brother after Jacques’ death in 1826, as the 1836 census shows her living at the presbytery and as the place of death recorded on his brothers’ death certificates.

After his secondary education, details of which are unknown, Victor entered the major seminary of Bayeux, receiving first tonsure on 28 May 1836, ordained sub-deacon on 20 May 1837. He was ordained a deacon on 15 July 1838 at Condé-sur-Noireau, and shortly after (in September) was given permission to enter the novitiate of the Society of Mary in Puylata (Lyons). He attended the annual retreat held at Meximieux (10-17 September) and signed the consecration to the Holy Virgin, “V. Poupinel Diacre”.

It is said that he had been inspired to join the Society after reading letters of the first missionaries in the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith; the first letter being that of Claude Bret, published in 1837. Poupinel himself, not long after his arrival in Sydney, made mention of recollecting Dr Ullathorne’s report printed in the Annals in 1838. Colin included Poupinel in a list of those who had entered with the singular desire for the missions “and who went on to perfectly attain that holy virtue of indifference”.

His dimissorial letter from the Bishop of Bayeux to the Bishop of Belley was given on 20 April 1839. He was professed in the Society of Mary on 3 September 1839 (the last day of the annual retreat, held at Belley). He again signed the consecration; this time “V. Poupinel D. Mariste”. He was ordained a priest on 15 September.

Jean-Claude Colin, on the advice of his brother Pierre, quickly realised how gifted Poupinel was, and from May 1839 made him his secretary. During the annual retreat in September 1841, Poupinel was appointed Procurator for Oceania. As secretary, Poupinel usually made a draft which Colin would then annotate. Poupinel learnt from Colin to write succinctly and to the point; but he also brought a care and professionalism to acknowledging letters and to accurately recording all monies.

At the chapters held in 1842 and 1845, Poupinel with Charles Dupont and Gabriel Germain respectively were elected chapter secretaries. Poupinel wrote the minutes of the 1845 chapter’s general sessions.

Poupinel accompanied Colin on his second visit to Rome in 1842 and joined him there in June 1847. Colin, who regarded him highly, expressed the esteem in which he held him in November 1846 to his Council.

It is unclear when Poupinel stopped being Colin’s secretary. The last letter, which Poupinel signed as secretary to Colin was sent 31 July 1847; however, letters written by Poupinel and signed by Colin, on non-Mission topics were still sent in 1854. Gabriel Germain and François Yardin also had the role of scribe for letters signed by Colin. Poupinel gradually became known in France as "the Father and Protector" of the Missions.

In May 1849, Poupinel started his efforts to communicate letters from the missionaries to houses in France. In February 1850 Poupinel produced his first circular letter to the missionaries in Oceania, which included happenings around France and included information about those professing in and being ordained for the Society.

He did not spend all his time on secretarial and procure functions, he also gave missions and was superior of Puylata from April 1853 until his departure for Sydney in 1857.

He continued this work under the second Superior General, Father Julien Favre, who led the Society of Mary from 1854 to 1885. On 29th April 1857, Favre announced his appointments as Visitor General of, and Procurator General for the Missions with residence in Sydney. This appears to have been a consequence of the negotiations that Favre carried out with Bishop Bataillon regarding the introduction of a rule for the missions and the decision to appoint him had already been made on 8 September 1856. In appointing him to this post, the Superior General expressed the utmost confidence in Poupinel's abilities for this job. “Having joined the Society at a young age, having always resided at the mother house, schooled over several years in administration, knowing the Society and its spirit very well, as well as our missions, of which he has been the procurator almost from the beginning, he possesses all the qualities desirable to effectively fulfil the functions of visitor and procurator general.”

One skill that Poupinel did not have at the time of appointment was proficiency in speaking English. There is evidence that he wrote letters in English when first appointed Colin’s secretary, “I try to do it in English language; I am very far from being acquainted with your language, but you will be good enough to pardon my inability.”; however, when he arrived in London, “If I knew how to speak English, I assure you that I would feel very comfortable conducting my business here.” This situation was quickly rectified as by Christmas 1857, “I said the prayer in English before Mass and made two announcements; I have continued since then, and my tutor assures me that I could preach in English.”

Poupinel, with four companions, sailed from London on the Damacus on 17 June 1957 and arrived in Sydney on 24 September 1857. Within two weeks Poupinel was off on his first Visitation, to New Caledonia, leaving Sydney on 9 October 1857. It was to be the first of many travels, the list of which are shown in the appendix. These travels were usually thorough, since Poupinel wanted to see all the Marists and understand their situation. For example, when he went to Central Oceania he visited as many places as he could and thus went (e.g. in his third visit) to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis and Futuna and Rotuma. His visits to New Zealand and New Caledonia showed the same thoroughness.

Poupinel is mostly remembered today as the writer of many letters. At the height of his administrative power, in the decade from 1863 to 1872 he wrote - on average - 100 letters per year. Many of these were written on boats as he was travelling from one place to another. His vast correspondence with missionaries, and with others, which has been sourced to date, takes up eleven volumes. He continued this voluminous correspondence right up to his last illness.

His letters are very significant since they provide information on a variety of topics relating to Marist missions in Oceania. From 1841 till 1873, he was procurator of the missions - the person responsible for managing the finances of the missions, for communicating regularly with missionaries, for addressing the various challenges that were encountered and needed outside help, for seeking finances and for supporting the missionaries with books, clothing and their other spiritual and material needs. His letters address the successes and failures of the Marist mission as well as documenting the growth and development of the Marist efforts. Above all he communicated with his superiors in France explaining how things were changing and what changes needed to be made in personnel or in priorities.

Poupinel was a man of details, and he kept records of arrival and departures of Marists to and from Sydney, to and from France and to and from mission areas (New Zealand and Oceania). While based in Sydney he focused on recording information about Sydney, New Zealand, and parts of Oceania (Central, New Caledonia, Fiji etc.). Letters sent to him from France and by missionaries while he was based in Sydney have also survived.

While on his travels he took every opportunity to give retreats, and to explore further the needs of the Marist missionaries. He was also very supportive of the development of congregations of sisters in Oceania. In August 1858 Fr Poupinel wrote a rule for the women missionaries who had come to the islands as members of the Third Order of Mary. He called them "the Sisters of Charity of the Third Order of Mary in the Missions of Central Oceania”. These sisters would, in 1931, become a Society of Pontifical right known from then on, as the “Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary” (SMSM). Also, in 1865, he accompanied three Religious of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) from Sydney on the last part of their journey to Napier in New Zealand. He was very concerned for the education of girls as part of the effort of the mission. Poupinel was a dedicated and hard-working priest-administrator, but he was always a caring and compassionate individual. Poupinel was described at times as "the Missionary of Missionaries" and was even known as 'Mother' Poupinel because of his great solicitude for the men.

Poupinel was a very important bridge between the missionaries and their home base which included not just Marist headquarters, but the French government, the families and friends of missionaries, as well as the wider church in France. The missionaries valued all he did for them – particularly in providing for the needs of their work such as building churches and schools, as well as personal living needs and his regular communications about what was happening at home. The missionaries deeply valued his work and concern for them, and he, in turn, greatly respected those in the missions. But he was also able to criticise in some cases the lack of administrative skills, poor planning decisions, and in a few cases the rapid expansion which outran resources – and he is recorded as being critical of financial mismanagement – even by Bishops.

The Marists who went to Oceania often had little formation in the Marist traditions, partly because these traditions were still being developed by Jean Claude Colin. The formulation of the spirit of the Society during the 1840s and early 1850s was conveyed clearly and precisely by Poupinel who had an important role in this period. For the first decade of the Society, he was the secretary for Colin and was privy to all Colin wrote, for the second decade he focussed on his work as Procurator of the Missions – but still worked alongside Jean Claude Colin. Poupinel saw that part of his work was to convey to the missionaries the development of understanding of the purpose and spirituality that was being made in the Society in France. In that sense he had probably an immense impact on the understanding of the Marist spirituality among the missionaries. He was possibly the ‘second novice master’, the formator par excellence of Marist life in the Pacific

In 1867 at least, Poupinel had requested to be relieved of functions of visitor given continued difficulties with Bishops Bataillon and Viard, to which request Favre finally acceded in 1869 and recalled him to France, not least to report on the status of the missions and to work on modifications to the 1857 rules. Favre told him not to rush his departure so that “the procure suffers as little as possible from your departure.” Poupinel finally sailed from Sydney on 1 January 1870, arriving at Marseilles on 2nd March, with there then being the possibility of quarantine. If the ship were quarantined, it was very brief as he joined Favre in Rome from 12 March to 25 April. After a short period in Lyons, he left to conduct a visitation of England and Ireland, returning via a number of houses in France. He was elected a capitulant to the 1870 General Chapter, which was suspended due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.

Favre decided in 1871 not to have Poupinel return to Sydney but to remain in France to be personal Secretary to Favre for mission business as well as heading the Procure. The missionaries in Oceania were greatly saddened at this move, no longer having the benefit of his concern and wise counsel in their midst. But they were grateful that such a man should be very much at the helm of the missionary endeavour of the Society.

The 1870 General Chapter was reconvened for a fourth time in August 1873 after the 1872 Constitutions had received approval from Rome. At this session, Poupinel was appointed Assistant General with the intention that his vast experience and knowledge be available to the new administration. He no longer had responsibility for the Procure but continued in the role of “special secretary of the Superior General for the missions”. In the years that followed he continued his correspondence with the missionaries and maintained his concern about the affairs of Oceania, writing more letters than ever in the first three years in his new role in general administration.

He continued to write letters right through till his last year. He became seriously sick at the end of February 1884. By April he was feeling a little better but the doctors recommended a change of air and he went to stay with a kind family in Saint-Genis-Laval together with two confreres who helped care for him. From 20th June he was able to resume daily celebration of Mass, but suddenly on 29 June he had a serious turn. On 2 July he renewed his religious profession and became weaker from then on till 8 July when the prayers for the dying were said on the morning of Thursday 10 July 1884 this great supporter of the mission in Oceania died. He was 69 years old.

On 12 July the parish priest of Saint-Genis-Laval led the requiem mass, which was attended by a large crowd of people. The coffin was then taken to the cemetery of Ste Foy-lès-Lyon for burial.

 

Appendix: Poupinel's Travels

1838-1857 In Europe Lyon, Puylata

1857-1862 In Oceania

17/06/1857 to 24/09/1857 Voyage to Sydney

At Villa Maria when not travelling – as below

10/10/1857 to 7/12/1857 New Caledonia 1st Visit

30/01/1858 to 7/04/1858 New Zealand 1st Visit

1/05/1858 to 8/10/1858 Central Oceania 1st Visit

18/11/1858 to 1/03/1859 New Caledonia 2nd Visit

17/09/1859 to 8/10/1859 New Zealand 2nd Visit

7/02/1861 to 9/05/1861 New Caledonia 3rd Visit

27/05/1861 to 15/11/1861 Central Oceania 2nd Visit

17/12/1861 to 18/03/1862 New Zealand 3rd Visit

1862-1863 In Europe

22/06/1862 to 21/08/1862 Voyage to Toulon

21/08/1862 to 15/12/1862 In France

17/12/1862 to 28/01/1863 In Rome

1/02/1863 to 18/01/1864 In France

1864-1865 In Oceania

19/01/1864 to 14/03/1864 Voyage to Sydney

10/06/1864 to 17/11/1864 New Caledonia 4th Visit

15/02/1865 to 8/04/1865 New Zealand 4th Visit

17/05/1865 to 14/10/1865 Central Oceania 3rd Visit

15/01/1966 to 8/03/1866 New Zealand 5th Visit

17/07/1866 to 20/11/1866 Central Oceania 4th Visit

1870-1884 In Europe

1/01/1870 to 2/03/1870 Voyage to Marseilles

2/03/1870 to 10/7/1884 Based in Lyons