with their mother-house and several convents in the diocese. He was succeeded by Bishop F. X. Leray, also a Breton, the hero of several yellow fever epidemics, and the founder of the Sisters of Mercy in the Diocese of Natchez. He remained in Natchitoches only two years, being selected as coadjutor to the Archbishop of New Orleans. He died in 1887. Bishop Anthony Durier succeeded him. Born near Lyon in southern France, he came to this country in 1855, was pastor in New Orleans for 26 years and one of the theologians of the Second Council of Baltimore. Consecrated in 1885, he died in 1904, having finished the cathedral and built an episcopal residence at Natchitoches. Right Rev. Cornelius Van De Ven, born at Oirschot, Holland, 16 June 1865, who studied in the diocesan seminary of Den Bosch, was ordained 31 May 1890, and came to America the same year. After filling important posts in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, he was consecrated Bishop of Natchitoches 30 November 1904. The most important act of his administration has been the transferring of the see from the inaccessible town of Natchitoches to the progressive city of Alexandria, a railroad centre with a large Catholic population. He went to Rome in 1910 and requested Pius X for the removal of the see. In August 1910, he received from the Consistorial Congregation the decree suppressing the See of Natchitoches and creating the See of Alexandria. On 6 August 1910, Pope Pius X transferred the see and changed the title of the diocese to Diocese of Alexandria. At that time, a total of 26 diocesan priests, 10 regulars (Jesuits and Marists), the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, the Daughters of the Cross with mother-house at Shreveport, the Sisters of Divine Providence and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word served about 23,341 parishioners. Titular Bishops Anthony Mancini – Appointed February 18, 1999, he was named the Titular Bishop of Natchitoches upon his assignment as the Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal, Quebec. He was formally ordained on March 25, 1999. Joseph Marino – Appointed January 12, 2008, he was named the Titular Archbishop of Natchitoches upon his assignment as the Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh. His Epsicopal Ordination was on March 29, 2008. Notes External links Natchitoches (Titular See) Natchitoches Natchitoches