BARRETT, JEAN ARNOLD. — Bishop, born at Loooz on 22 Feb. 1770, died at Namur in 1835. After completing his studies in Rome and being ordained a priest, he returned to his homeland, beginning his ecclesiastical career as curate in the parish of Wellen. From 1797 to 1802, having refused to take the oath to the Constitution, he lived in retirement in Liège, where, after the Concordat, he was entrusted with the administration of the cathedral’s assets. Once again, in 1811, due to his openly hostile stance toward Napoleonic policy, he was forced into exile in Besançon. There he devoted himself to assisting prisoners and the sick, once more demonstrating his deep Catholic faith and priestly conscience. He returned to Liège in 1813 and became vicar capitular of the vast diocese, and finally bishop of Namur from 1833 to 1835.
BARRETT, JEAN ARNOLD
Bibl.: E. Coomans, s. V. in Biographie Nationale de Belgique, I, cols. 729-31; F. Baix, s. V. in DHG, VI, cols. 918-19.