Background
He was born at Duerne, near Lyon, France, October 15, 1796. Died at Vincennes, Indiana, United States.A., April 23, 1848.
He was born at Duerne, near Lyon, France, October 15, 1796. Died at Vincennes, Indiana, United States.A., April 23, 1848.
He was educated in his native country and ordained in Lyon Cathedral, July 22, 1822.
In 1830 he emigrated to the United States and began his labours among the Catholics of Mobile, Alabama, where for seventeen years he toiled zealously for the religious instruction of the young, organizing the Sunday schools and establishing the Catholic Orphan Asylum Society. He was also the vicar-general of the diocese. In both efforts he was successful.
When the Right Review
Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière, Bishop of Vincennes, resigned his see in 1847, Father Bazin was consecrated his successor on the 24th of October of that year. His episcopal career, which promised to be one of great usefulness to the Church, was cut short by his untimely death only seven months later. Despite his short term as bishop, Bazin was able to heal some of the rifts that had formed in his diocese.
In a letter to another bishop, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bouvier of Le Mans, Guerin described Bazin as "pious, humble, and of an amiable simplicity.".