to 88 by the time of his death. He went to Belgium to recruit priests and the Redemptorists were the first order to staff a parish. He established St. Thomas Seminary, most likely in his own home. With Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville, he established the American College at Louvain in Belgium for the education of new priests and assigned four of his priests as the first four rectors of the school. The diocese under Rese had been poorly run and suffered from financial mismanagement. Lefevere established diocesan statutes in 1843 and presided over the first diocesan synod in 1859. He won a dispute with some of the laity over the ownership of church property. He built Saints Peter and Paul Church in Detroit, which became his cathedral in 1848, replacing Ste. Anne de Detroit. He bought property throughout the diocese where possible churches could be built. This became a financial investment for the diocese to draw upon to carry out its mission. Lefevere also served the larger church in the United States. He took an active role in the provincial councils of Baltimore and Cincinnati. In 1852 he attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore and the Second Plenary Council in 1866. Bishop Lefevere helped to establish several charitable institutions in the diocese, which included four orphanages, a hospital and an asylum for the mentally ill. The Daughters of Charity became the first order of teaching sisters to come to Detroit. The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were established in the diocese in 1845. Numerous other religious orders of men and women were introduced to the diocese to teach in schools and staff parishes. He took care of the pastoral needs of the Native Americans and those of mixed-blood in his diocese. He was an advocate of the Temperance Movement, especially among Native Americans. Lefevere died in Detroit at the age of 64 after serving the Diocese of Detroit for 28 years, and was buried in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. His remains were later transferred to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery to be with other bishops of Detroit. References 1804 births 1869 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Detroit People from West Flanders Clergy from Detroit