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Guy Ignatius Chabrat P.S.S. (December 27, 1787 – November 21, 1868) was a French Roman Catholic missionary and Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky (1834–47). He was the first priest ordained west of the Alleghenies.

Biography

Guy Ignace Chabrat was born in Le Vigean, Cantal, to Pierre and Louise (née Lavialle) Chabrat; he was a relative of Peter Joseph Lavialle, Bishop of Louisville (1865–67). He studied at a Sulpician seminary and was ordained a subdeacon in 1809. In 1811, he accepted an invitation from Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget to join the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, arriving in the United States in May of that year. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Flaget on Christmas Day 1811, at St. Rose Priory.

Chabrat was first assigned to St. Michael's Church, Fairfield (Kentucky) and St. Clare's Church, Colesburg (Kentucky), while also attending to a mission near Bardstown. He briefly served as pastor of St. Pius' Church in Scott County (1823). Following the death of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, he became superior of the Sisters of Loretto in 1824.

On March 21, 1834, Chabrat was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown and Titular Bishop of Bolina by Pope Gregory XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 20 from Bishop Flaget, with Bishops John Baptist Mary David, P.S.S., and Richard Pius Miles, O.P., serving as co-consecrators. He assumed much of the administration of the diocese for the aged Flaget, including the move of the episcopal see to Louisville in 1841.

Threatened with complete blindness, he sought treatment in Europe and later resigned as Coadjutor Bishop on April 10, 1847. He retired to his native France on a comfortable pension, dying in Mauriac at age 80.

References

1. ^ "Bishop Guy Ignatius Chabrat, P.S.S." Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
2. ^ "Diocese of Louisville". Catholic Encyclopedia.
3. ^ Clarke, Richard Henry. "Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States".

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
Ordinaries	Bishops Benedict Joseph Flaget John Baptist Mary David Benedict Joseph Flaget Martin John Spalding Peter Joseph Lavialle William George McCloskey Denis O'Donaghue John Alexander Floersh Archbishops John Alexander Floersh Thomas Joseph McDonough Thomas Cajetan Kelly Joseph Edward Kurtz Shelton Fabre Affiliated bishops Guy Ignatius Chabrat Michael Heiss Charles Garrett Maloney John McGill James Ryan John Lancaster Spalding J. Mark Spalding James Kendrick Williams
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville
Education	High schools (boys) St. Francis DeSales High School, Louisville St. Xavier High School, Louisville Trinity High School, St. Matthews High schools (girls) Assumption High School, Louisville Mercy Academy, Louisville Presentation Academy, Louisville Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville High schools (coeducational) Bethlehem High School, Bardstown Holy Cross High School, Louisville Special needs school Pitt Academy, Louisville
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• 1787 births
• 1868 deaths
• Sulpician bishops
• French emigrants to the United States
• 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
• Catholic Church in Kentucky
• Religious leaders from Kentucky