Girard, Jean-Baptiste (1680-1733)

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Girard, Jean-Baptiste (1680-1733)

A Jesuit born at Dôle in France. Girard was persecuted by the Jansenists, who accused him of seducing a girl named Catherine Cadière, who showed symptoms of possession and had to be sent to a convent of Ursulines at Brest. His enemies found it impossible to implicate him in the affair, and the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence, before which he was tried in 1731, was forced to acquit him. He returned to his native Dôle, where he died two years later. The case resembles similar accusations against priests by nuns that occurred at Loudon and Louviers.