BABIN, FRANÇOIS. - Priest and distinguished moralist, b. at Angers on 6 Dec. 1651, d. there on 25 Jan. 1734.
At the university he was professor of theology from 1676; chancellor from 1684; dean of the faculty from 1710; and additionally vicar of the diocese from 1706.
In 1707 the bishop entrusted him with the task of presiding over the monthly public conferences on cases of conscience; this gave him the opportunity to compile his Diocesan Conferences of Angers. He revised, reworked and perfected the volumes already published, which left much to be desired, and then continued the series with 18 new volumes (8 on the Saracens, 3 on the Decalogue, 2 on contracts, 2 on censures, 1 on irregularity, 2 on benefices), in which one still admires the rigorous logic, the broad and profound erudition, the fine precision, all set forth in a clear and elegant style. The work was subsequently completed, at the request of the French clergy, by other professors of the university who added the treatment of new cases until they produced a complete course of theology; and it went through many editions until the final one, revised and updated in 26 vols. (Besançon 1823), by the future cardinal T. Gousset; it was reprinted again in 1830.