Jean-Pierre Moussa (1814 23 July 1860) was a Senegalese Catholic priest and educator. He is noted for aiding former slaves.
Early life Jean-Pierre Moussa was born in 1815 in Saint-Louis, Senegal.Delaplace, F. (1886). La r.m. [i.e. Révérende Mère] Javouhey fondatrice de la Congrégation de Saint-Joseph de Cluny: histoire de sa vie, des oeuvres et missions de la congrégation (p. 567). France: V. Lecoffre. His father was Pierre Moussa, a cantor at the church in Saint-Louis.Curtis, S. A. (2010). Civilizing Habits: Women Missionaries and the Revival of French Empire (p. 205). United States: Oxford University Press, USA.
Jean-Pierre Moussa, alongside David Boilat and Arsène Fridoil, was among the first Senegalese priests. As children, they were brought from Senegal to France for their education with the assistance of Anne-Marie Javouhey, founding nun of the order of Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.Schmidt, N., Dugoujon, C. (2015). Lettres sur l'esclavage et l'abolition dans les colonies françaises, 1840-1850. France: Editions L'Harmattan. Mother Javouhey arranged for 20 boys to be trained as African clergy to aid in evangelizing Senegal.Jones, H. (2003). Citizens and Subjects: Métis Society, Identity and the Struggle Over Colonial Politics in Saint Louis, Senegal, 1870-1920 (p. 114). (n.p.): Michigan State University. Department of History. The average age of the African children was 12 years old.Feay, T. (2003). Mission to Moralize: Slaves, Africans, and Missionaries in the French Colonies, 1815-1852 (p. 111). United States: University of Notre Dame. Following the deaths of many and the return of others to Senegal, only three progressed to advanced training. According to French historian Georges Goyau, Moussa, Boilat, and Fridoil trained under the guidance of Mother Javouhey at the seminary she established in 1825 in Bailleul, Oise, and transferred to Limoux, Aude in 1829. The three continued their studies at the major seminary of Carcassonne.Mémoires. (1932). France: (n.p.).Javouhey, A. M., Hebert, J. (1994). Lettres (p. 426). France: Les Editions du Cerf. They eventually completed their theological studies at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit () in Paris in 1838.Debrunner, H. W. (1979). Presence and Prestige, Africans in Europe: A History of Africans in Europe Before 1918 (p. 185). Taiwan: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.
Priesthood
Moussa and the two others were ordained as priests in 1840 by the Archbishop of Paris Denis Auguste Affre.Marion Brésillac, M. M. J. d., Bonfils, J., Douau, N. (1985). Marion Brésillac: documents de mission et de fondation (p. 257). Canada: Médiaspaul. Moussa celebrated Mass at the Palace of Fontainebleau in the presence of King Louis-Philippe and Queen Marie Amelie of Bourbon-Orléans.Bergougniou, J., Clignet, R., David, P. (2001). "Villages noirs" et autres visiteurs africains et malgaches en France et en Europe: 1870-1940 (p. 106). France: Karthala. The Senegalese abbot received a gift that included a painting, crucifix, and candelabras from the Queen of France in 1841.Benoist, J. d. (1993). Gorée: The Island and the Historical Museum (p. 19). Senegal: IFAN-Cheikh Anta Diop.
Shortly after completing his studies, he returned to Senegal on 13 April 1841.Anne Marie Javouhey. Fondatrice de la congrégation des soeurs de St Joseph de Cluny. (2003). (n.p.): Karthala Editions. Moussa assumed duties as the interim priest at Saint-Louis. His attention later turned to aiding former slaves in Saint-Louis, Gorée, and Bathurst.Jones, H. (2013). The Métis of Senegal: Urban Life and Politics in French West Africa (p. 79). . United States: Indiana University Press.
In the summer of 1846, Moussa's arrival in Paris brought joy to Javouhey, followed by visits to the nuncio, the King, the Queen, and Madame Adélaïde.Revue des deux mondes (p. 652). (1929). France: Au Bureau de la Revue des deux mondes. He celebrated Mass using a portable altar gifted to him by Queen Marie Amelie. That year, a lithograph was created by A. Jourdan, based on a drawing by Pierre-Roch Vigneron.
In 1853, Jean-Pierre Moussa entered the service of Emperor Faustin Soulouque as a parish priest in Haiti.Folklore in Africa Today: Proceedings of the International Workshop (p. 532). (1984). Hungary: Department of Folklore, Loránd Eötvös University, African Research Program.
Death Jean-Pierre Moussa died on 23 July 1860 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Debrunner, H. W. (1979). Presence and Prestige, Africans in Europe: A History of Africans in Europe Before 1918. Taiwan: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.
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