DESIRANT, BERNARD. - Augustinian theologian, b. at Bruges on 21 May 1656, d. at Rome on 2 March 1725. He distinguished himself by his extensive theological learning and his mastery of many languages, especially ancient ones; thus he became imperial theologian, professor of Scripture at the Sapienza in Rome (appointed there by Clement XI), qualificator of the Inquisition, and prefect of studies at the college of Propaganda Fide. The struggle he waged against the Jansenists caused him no small amount of trouble. His writings, all polemical in character, are also rich in autobiographical information and valuable for the history of the Jansenist movement in the eighteenth century.
Principal works: Commentorium ad orthodoxos (2 vols., Louvain 1701; placed on the Index, decree of 26 Oct. 1707); Honorius Papa vindicatus, contra jansenistas (Aachen 1711); Dissertatio dogmatica de oratione pharisae et publicam (ibid. 1712); Actio epistolaris de Gratia et libero arbitrio, eiusque prosecutio (2 vols., Aachen-Cologne 1712-13); Auctoritas episcopalis vindicata (Cologne 1713); S. Augustinus vindicatus contra Quesnellii propositiones (5 vols., Rome 1721-22); Consilium pietatis (3 vols., ibid. 1720).