Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier

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Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier (1653–1727) was a French Catholic bishop who served as the second bishop of Quebec in New France. Born into a wealthy family in Grenoble, he helped the poor and even founded a small hospital before becoming a priest. He studied at the Saint-Sulpice seminary in Paris and was ordained in 1681. In 1685, King Louis XIV chose him to be bishop of Quebec, and he was consecrated in 1688 after a difficult dispute with the previous bishop, François de Laval.

Saint-Vallier led Quebec with energy and pushed for church reform, strong morals, and missionary work. He was strict and spent a lot of diocesan money, which caused debt and clashes with the seminary and other religious orders, including the Jesuits. Despite the conflicts, he helped found the General Hospital of Quebec in 1692 and supported the building of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church, while promoting education and missions across the colony. Some people accused him of Jansenism, but church scholars in Paris later approved his writings as orthodox.

His leadership also brought major disputes, especially over control of parishes with the Seminary of Quebec and over missions to Native peoples. From 1700 to 1704 he traveled to France and England for support, and the king briefly kept him away from New France. He returned to Quebec in 1713 and spent his later years focused on charity and moral reform. Saint-Vallier died in the Hôpital Général in Quebec City on December 26, 1727, after a life of devoted service. His last words were, “Forget me, but do not forget my poor.”