Benedict Joseph Flaget
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
a Roman Catholic prelate, was born at Courtenay, Auvergne, November 7, 1763. He entered the Sulpitianl seminary at Clermont, and after his ordination was received into the society of St. Sulpice. As the troubles of the French revolution dame on he offered himself to bishop Carroll for service in America, and arrived in Philadelphia, November 7, 1793. His first mission was at Vincennes, Indiana, one of the oldest French settlements in the West, whence he was recalled m 1795 to assume a professorship in Georgetown College. On November 4, 1810, he was consecrated bishop of the new diocese of Bardstown. His zealous labors extended to St. Louis and New Orleans. He established a seminary in his new diocese, and by the aid of priests like David, Elder, Byrne, and the Dominican and Jesuit fathers, institutions arose to meet the needs of his flock. In 1832 his resignation of his see was accepted, but, with Dr. Chalrat as coadjutor, he was reinstated. Bishop Flaget then visited Rome, when the pope urged him to travel through France and Northern Italy, to commend the, Association for the Propagation of the Faith. Cures said to have been effected by his prayers added to the force of his reputation. Returning to Kentucky, he resumed his toilsome labors. After his see was removed to Louisville, Dr. Chalrat resigned, and M.J. Spalding, afterwards the learned archbishop of Baltimore, succeeded him. Bishop Flaget closed his long and laborious life, February 11, 1850. See Cath. Almanac, 1872, page 57; De Courcy and Shea, Hist. of the Cath. Church in the United States, pages 70, 538.
