Georges Michonneau

Georges Michonneau was born in 1899, and at the age of 23 was ordained priest at Niort, in the diocese of Poitiers (France), after which he was appointed curate in the town of Châtellerault. Four years later, in 1926, he joined the Fils de la Charité (Sons of Charity), a religious congregation founded in 1918 in Paris for the evangelization of the urban working class. Soon after he was sent to be curate in Clichy, an outer suburb of Paris. From 1939 to 1947 he was parish priest of nearby Petits...See more

Georges Michonneau was born in 1899, and at the age of 23 was ordained priest at Niort, in the diocese of Poitiers (France), after which he was appointed curate in the town of Châtellerault. Four years later, in 1926, he joined the Fils de la Charité (Sons of Charity), a religious congregation founded in 1918 in Paris for the evangelization of the urban working class. Soon after he was sent to be curate in Clichy, an outer suburb of Paris. From 1939 to 1947 he was parish priest of nearby Petits Colombes, during which time he wrote "Revolution in a City Parish," a seminal text of the French parish missionary movement, in which he was a leading figure. From 1947 to 1956 he was parish priest in neighbouring Colombes. His last appointment was to Belleville, a more central working-class suburb of Paris, from 1956 to 1966. Apart from the many works he authored about missionary parishes and priestly ministry, many of which were published in English translations, he was also author of the "Missel communautaire," which ran to many editions over several decades, beginning while he was curé at Petits Colombes. This small, inexpensive hand missal was intended to foster communal participation in worship among his largely working-class congregation, with the Mass texts and hymns translated into French and photos to add visual emphasis to the texts. He died in 1983. See less