About Charles Lavigerie
Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie, M. Afr. (31 October 1825 – 26 November 1892) was a French Catholic prelate and missionary who served as Archbishop of Carthage and Primate of Africa from 1884 to 1892. He previously served as Archbishop of Algiers and Bishop of Nancy. He also founded the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers). He was created a cardinal in 1882. After becoming a bishop in France, Lavigerie established French Catholic missions and missionary orders to work across Africa. Lavigerie promoted Catholicism among the peoples of North Africa, as well as the Black natives further south. He was equally ardent to transform them into French subjects. He crusaded against the slave trade, and he founded the White Fathers, so named for their white cassocks and red fezzes. He also established similar orders of brothers and nuns. He sent his missionaries to the Sahara, Sudan, Tunisia, and Tripolitania. His efforts were supported by the pope and the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Although anti-clericalism was a major issue in France, the secular leader Léon Gambetta proclaimed, "Anti-clericalism is not an article for export", and he supported Lavigerie's work. Lavigerie died in 1892 at the age of 67.
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