Camillus Paul Maes

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Camillus Paul Maes was the third bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. Bishop Maes was responsible for building the current cathedral.

[edit] Early Life and Priesthood

Camillus Maes was born in Courtai, Belgium on March 13, 1846. While Maes was studying in a Belgian seminary, he decided to join the American mission work under way at the time. Maes was ordained a priest on December 19, 1868 in Belgium, and left for the Diocese of Detroit, arriving in May 1869. Father Maes served the diocese well, eventually rising to the position of chancellor of the diocese. During his time as a priest, Father Maes wrote a biography of Father Charles Nerinckx, one of the first Catholic missionaries in Kentucky and the founder of the Sisters of Loretto. Father Maes was named the third bishop of Covington by Pope Leo XIII on October 1, 1884, the first diocesan priest from Detroit to be named a bishop.

[edit] Bishop of Covington

Father Maes was ordained bishop by Archbishop William Elder of Cincinnati on January 25, 1885. During Bishop Maes' time in Covington, he arranged for a new cathedral to be built down the street from the cathedral at the time, which was rapidly falling into decay. The bishop designed the cathedral to look exactly like Notre Dame de Paris. The cathedral would not be finished before Bishop Maes' death, and is still unfinished to this day. Bishop Maes brought much help to the missions serving the hills of eastern Kentucky, still in the diocese in that period. Maes was also responsible for starting a diocesan newspaper, now knowing as the Messenger. Bishop Maes served the diocese until his death on May 11, 1915, the longest-serving bishop to date.