FLAGET, BENOÎT-JOSEPH. - Born on 17 Nov. 1763 at Contournat near Billom, diocese of Clermont (France), died on 11 Feb. 1850 at Louisville. In 1783 he entered the Sulpician Seminary at Clermont and in 1787 was ordained priest. In 1792 he left for the United States of America and was entrusted with the religious care of Fort Vincennes.
In 1794 he was recalled to Baltimore to attend to vocations at Georgetown College. In Nov. 1798 he was sent to Havana. From 1802 to 1808 he was at St. Mary’s College in Baltimore. In Sept. 1808 he was appointed bishop of Bardstown. To avoid such an honour, he went to Paris. In the end he had to accept and, having returned to his diocese, founded seminaries and religious communities, built churches, and visited Kentucky and Tennessee. During his episcopate eleven episcopal sees were erected in the territory. From 1841 the see was transferred to Louisville. Protestants and Catholics mourned the loss of so indefatigable a pastor, regarded as a true saint.