[1][2] He was born August 7, 1894, in Segre (Maine-et-Loire) son of Breton parents, and educated in Rennes and Saint-Malo.
After the war he was Ordained a priest on 21 May 1921, he was sent to the French Seminary in Rome where he obtained a doctorate of theology.
Upon his return to the diocese of Rennes, he was successively Professor of Holy History at the major seminary of this city, from 1923 to 1933 and then superior of the diocesan college of Saint-Malo from 1933 to 1938.
He enlisted once again for World War II (1939-1940), fighting the Germans during their entry into the city of Rennes.
After the Second World War he was appointed Bishop of Arras on November 3, 1945, in replacing Henri-Edouard Dutoit, who resigned after the Liberation of France.