John Baptist Mary David

John Baptist Mary David, S.S. (French: Jean-Baptiste-Marie David), (June 4, 1761 – July 12, 1841) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky from 1832 to 1833.

Biography

David was born in Couëron, in the Province of Brittany (now the Department of Loire-Atlantique) in pre-revolutionary France. At age 7 he was placed under the care of his uncle, a priest, who instructed the boy in Latin, French, and music.^[1] He entered the nearby college of the Oratorians at age 14, and later the seminary of the Diocese of Nantes, receiving the tonsure in 1778.^[1] Ordained a priest on September 24, 1785,^[2] he joined the Society of Saint-Sulpice (commonly known as the Sulpicians) and taught philosophy, theology, and Scripture at the Sulpician seminary in Angers from 1786 until 1790, when the French Revolution forced him to seek shelter in the private home of a Catholic family.^[1]

In 1792, seeking safety, David was part of a small group of Sulpicians who left France for the United States, under the leadership of the Abbé Benedict Joseph Flaget, S.S., landing in Baltimore, Maryland.^[3] He then served in Maryland and as a professor at both Georgetown College (1804–1806) and St. Mary's Seminary (1806–1810).^[1] He moved west in 1810 to serve under his colleague, Flaget, now the bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, where he established St. Thomas Seminary.^[3] In 1812 he founded the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, whose Superior General he remained almost to the end of his life.^[3]

On July 4, 1817, David was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown and Titular Bishop of Maurocastrum by Pope Pius VII.^[2] He received his episcopal consecration on August 15, 1819 (the two-year-long delay due to his reluctance to accept his nomination)^[3] from Bishop Flaget.^[2] Following his consecration, he continued to serve as a missionary, superior of St. Thomas' Seminary, and pastor of St. Joseph's Cathedral.^[3] David succeeded Flaget as the second Bishop of Bardstown on August 25, 1832.^[2] However, he resigned as Bishop less than a year later, on March 17, 1833.^[2] His poor health compelled him to retire to the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity he had founded in Nazareth, where he later died at age 80 and was buried.^[3]

References

Episcopal succession

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 Affiliated bishops Guy Ignatius Chabrat Michael Heiss Charles Garrett Maloney John McGill James Ryan John Lancaster Spalding James Kendrick Williams Churches Cathedral Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville Parishes: 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 Catholicism Portal