ALLARD, JEAN-FRANÇOIS-MARIE. – Missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, first apostolic vicar of Natal, b. on 27 November 1806 at La Roche (France), d. in Rome on 26 September 1886. Already a priest from 1830, he entered the Congregation of the Oblates in 1837; he left for Canada in 1843. In 1851 he was appointed bishop of Samaria and apostolic vicar of Natal. He organized the work for the white Catholics and the apostolate for the blacks, founding for the latter the stations of Rome, St Monica, and St Michael. Twenty years later, in 1873, his vicariate—with only 8 fathers and 5 brothers—numbered more than 3,000 Catholics, including 1,000 Basuti. Retiring for reasons of health, he spent his final years in Rome.
BIBL.: Petites annales des missions des Oblats de Marie Immaculée, 1908, pp. 407–10.