BARRETT, JEAN ARNOLD

BARRETT, JEAN ARNOLD. - Bishop, born at Looz on 22 February 1770, died at Namur in 1835. Having completed his studies in Rome and been ordained priest, he returned to his native country, beginning his ecclesiastical career as parish priest of Wellen. From 1797 to 1802, having refused to take the oath to the constitution, he lived in retirement at Liège, where, after the concordat, he was entrusted with the administration of the cathedral’s property. Once again, in 1811, because of his openly hostile attitude toward Napoleonic policy, he was obliged to withdraw into exile at Besançon. There he devoted himself to assisting prisoners and the sick, giving renewed proof of his profound Catholic faith and his priestly conscience. Having returned to Liège in 1813, he became capitular vicar of the extensive diocese and finally bishop of Namur from 1833 to 1835.