AustLit

Francis Xavier Gsell was born near Strasbourg in Alsace-Lorraine in 1872. He left home at fourteen to study for the priesthood in the historic town of Issoudun, France, headquarters of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. His scholastic brilliance was so apparent that after a few years he was chosen to continue his studies in Rome. There he learnt to speak Italian and, at twenty-five, was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity. A fellow student at the Gregorian University was His Holiness Pope Pius XII. Gsell came to Australia in 1897 as Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Sacred Scripture at the newly formed scholasticate of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at Kensington, N.S.W. In 1900 he went to Papua and worked near Pt. Moresby for six years. His life's work began in 1906 with his appointment as Administrator Apostolic of the Northern Territory. He was consecrated Bishop of Darwin in 1938.