Peter Paul Lefevere, or Lefebre (April 30, 1804 – March 4, 1869), was a 19th-century Belgian born bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He was a missionary priest in the states of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa before he served as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Detroit in the state of Michigan from 1841-1869. Early life and ministry Pierre-Paul Lefevere was born in Roeselare (French: Roulers), West Flanders, Belgium to Charles and Albertine (Muylle) Lefevere. He was educated in Paris at the Lazarist seminary, and left for the United States in 1828 where he completed his studies for the priesthood at The Barrens in Perryville, Missouri. He was ordained a priest in St. Louis, Missouri by Bishop Joseph Rosati in 1831. His first appointment was to New Madrid, Missouri but was transferred after a few months to Salt River. The parish territory included mission stations in northern Missouri, western Illinois and southern Iowa. His health was affected by the extent of his work, and in 1841 he returned to Europe to rest. Diocese of Detroit While Lefevere was in Rome Pope Gregory XVI named him titular bishop of Zela and coadjutor bishop of Detroit on July 23, 1841. In effect, Lefevere would be the leader of the Detroit diocese, as Bishop Frederick Rese had become incapacitated for unspecified reasons and had returned to Europe, while retaining the title of Bishop of Detroit until his death in 1871. (As coadjutor, Bishop Lefevere exercised the authority of a diocesan bishop as the administrator of the diocese, but he never held the title of Bishop of Detroit.) He returned to the United States and was consecrated on November 21, 1841 by Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick of Philadelphia. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops John England of Charleston and John Joseph Hughes of New York. This was a period of growth for the Catholic Church in Michigan. When Lefevere arrived in Detroit, the diocese covered the Michigan Territory, which at the time encompassed modern-day Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as all of Michigan. There were two parishes in the city and only twenty-five in the diocese. During his time as bishop the number of parishes in the city increased to eleven and 160 in the diocese, which was reduced to the lower peninsula of Michigan in 1853. There were 18 priests in the diocese when he arrived and that number grew