Charles Théodore Colet

Charles Théodore Colet (30 April 1806 – 27 November 1883) was a French Roman Catholic Archbishop.

Coat of arms of Mgr Charles Théodore Colet

Life

Colet was born in Gérardmer in France and was ordained a priest in 1831. In 1838 he became private secretary to François-Victor Rivet, Bishop of Dijon, and later served as Rivet's vicar general,[1] a position he held for twenty-three years. On August 26, 1860 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour.[2]

In June 1861, Napoleon III nominated Colet to succeed François-Augustin Delamare as bishop of Luçon. Pope Pius IX approved the appointment the following month, and on August 25 Colet was consecrated bishop at the Cathedral of Saint Benignus in Dijon with his friend and mentor, Bishop Rivet, serving as principal consecrator. In 1869, Colet authorized a diocesan catechism.[3] He attended the First Vatican Council, and voted with the minority against the doctrine of papal infallibility.[4] On March 4, 1874, he was made an officer of the Legion of Honour.

In November 1874, Colet was nominated to succeed Felix Pierre Fruchaud as Archbishop of Tours. In December, Pius IX approved the appointment, and Colet was installed at the Cathedral of Saint Gatianus in Tours on February 3, 1875. He supported Leo Dupont in his efforts to promote the local devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. Dupont was well known among the Catholics of Tours for his piety and generosity. After Dupont's death in March 1876, the Archdiocese purchased his house on the Rue St. Etienne and established the Oratory of the Holy Face. The chapel was staffed by a community of priests canonically established by Archbishop Colet and called the "Priests of the Holy Face".(The Oratory still stands, now administered by the French Dominicans as the earlier group is now defunct.)

Tours Cathédrale Saint-Gatien Monument commémoratif de Mgr Colet

As he had done at Luçon, in 1879 he issued a diocesan catechism for Tours.[5]

Archbishop Colet died in Tours on 27 November 1883. His funeral was held at the cathedral with Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert, Cardinal Archbishop of Paris presiding.[6] Colet's tomb in the cathedral.

References
  1. O'Gara, Margaret. Triumph in Defeat: Infallibility, Vatican I, and the French Minority Bishops, Catholic University of America Press, 1988, p.8 ISBN 9780813206417
  2. "Colet, Charles Théodore", Archives nationales, Ministère de la Culture
  3. Catéchisme du diocèse de Luçon, chez F. Bideaux, 1869
  4. Simon, Georges. L'épiscopat français, Société bibliographique (France) (1907), pp. 308–309.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. Catéchisme du diocèse de Tours, Mame, 1879
  6. La Semaine religieuse du diocèse de Tulle, 8 décembre 1883, no 49, p. 669-670

Sources
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