BARDEL, CLAUDE. — Bishop, born at Thiers on 23 Feb. 1851, died at Séez on 16 Feb. 1926. Ordained priest in 1874, he served as vicar general of the dioceses of Clermont and Bourges in 1891 and 1893, auxiliary bishop with the title of Parium in 1894, and residential bishop of Séez on 14 Apr. 1897. He cultivated with passion the deep religiosity of his diocesans and the high cultural and spiritual level of his clergy. Subject to harsh persecution upon the rupture of the Concordat, expelled from the episcopal residence after the closure of his seminary, he managed through improvised means to reorganize the clerical formation institutes, laying the foundations for flourishing institutions for the defense of religious interests, for the spread of Christian social ideals, and above all for the intensified expansion of Catholic free schools. He manifested his apostolic and charitable spirit especially during the First World War.
BARDEL, CLAUDE
BIBL.: P. Calendini, s. V. in DHG, VI, cols. 764-65.