SOLMINIHAC, ALAIN DE, BL.

Reforming bishop of Cahors, France, canon regular of St. Augustine (OSA); b. Nov. 25, 1593, Belet (near Périgueux) France; d. Dec. 31, 1659, Mercuès (near Cahors), Quercy, France. Named abbot of Chancelade (a foundation of canons regular of st. augustine near Périgueux) in 1614, Alain gradually corrected the physical and spiritual deterioration of his monastery. He was consecrated bishop of Cahors on Sept. 27, 1637, and worked vigorously and successfully for the reform of this huge but spiritually impoverished diocese. He was strongly pro-papal in the Gallican conflicts and actively anti-Jansenist. He was regarded as a saint by vincent de paul and others. The cause of his beatification was introduced in 1783. Pope John Paul II, during the beatification ceremony (Oct. 4, 1981), praised Solminihac for his "courage to evangelize the modern world fearlessly."

Feast: Jan. 3.

Bibliography: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 74 (1982): 261–63. L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, no. 41 (1981): 1, 12. l. chastenet, La Vie de Monseigneur Alain de Solminihac Eveque Baron, et Comte de Caors, et Abbé régulier de Chancellade (Cahors 1663). c. dumoulin, Au service de Dieu et de sa gloire (Paris 1981). e. sol, Un prélat ultramontain du XVIIe siècle, Alain de Solminihac et le Saint–Siège (Aurillac, France 1927); Alain de Solminihac … : Lettres et documents (Cahors 1928); L'Église de Cahors à l'époque moderne (Paris 1947).

[m. a. roche]