Education
Born in Aix-en-Provence, France on 28 October 1686 of noble parentage, Paul Alpheran de Bussan graduated in Bachelor of Theology from the University of Aix in 1705.
Born in Aix-en-Provence, France on 28 October 1686 of noble parentage, Paul Alpheran de Bussan graduated in Bachelor of Theology from the University of Aix in 1705.
The ship on which the 19-year-old Paul was travelling was caught in heavy storms and had to seek shelter in Saint Paul"s Bay where he came ashore. Paul was ordained priest by Davide Cocco Palmeri on December 8, 1710. He was received as Conventual Chaplain in the Langue of Provence.
He was also prior of the convent church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte in Aix-en-Provence in 1720.
He was appointed Secretary for French Affairs by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. On March 8, 1728, Pope Benedict XIII appointed Paul Alphéran de Bussan as of Malta.
He was consecrated by the same Pope on March 14 of the same year. In 1733 Alphéran de Bussan built the Mdina seminary, now the Cathedral Museum.
On 19 September 1746 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tamiathis.
In 1752 he financed the printing of a Maltese translation of Cardinal Bellarmino’s Catholic Catechism which was distributed to every parish in Malta. Archbishop Alphéran de Bussan died on 20 April 1757 at his Mdina residence.