Venerable Alain de Boismenu

Alain Marie Guynot de Boismenu (27 December 1870 – 5 November 1953) was a French Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Vicar Apostolic of Papua from 1908 until his retirement in 1945; he was a professed member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the founder of the Handmaids of the Lord. He studied under the De La Salle Brothers before beginning his religious formation in Belgium where he did his studies for the priesthood. He served for a brief period as a teacher before being sent in 1897 to Papua New Guinea to aid in the missions there; he also served the ailing apostolic vicar and was soon after made his coadjutor with the right of succession. His stewardship of the apostolic vicariate saw the number of missions and catechists increase and his tenure also saw the establishment of new schools and a training center for catechists. The beatification process for the late bishop launched in 1984 and he became titled as a Servant of God. He later became titled as Venerable in 2014 after Pope Francis confirmed he lived a life of heroic virtue. Alain Marie Guynot de Boismenu was born in France on 27 December 1870 in Saint-Malo to François Célestin Guynot de Boismenu (1821-1884) and Augustine Marie Desessarts (1831-11.1.1871) as the last of eleven children (eight males and three females); his parents were married on 23 May 1843. His siblings included his brother Eugène (1858-???) and his sisters Héloïse (1860-13.3.1923) and Louise (15.12.1863-???) His mother died just over a week following his birth on 11 January 1871 at which stage his oldest sister Augustine helped to raise him. He was noted in his childhood for being passionate but having a short temper which sometimes put him in conflict with his father and Augustine who he felt was sometimes too strict with him.