Isidore Clut (February 11, 1832 – July 9, 1903) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, Oblate of Mary Immaculate, and

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Athabaska Mackenzie from 1864 to 1903.

Life

Clut was born 4 February 4, 1832 in

Saint-Rambert-d'Albon Saint-Rambert-d'Albon (, literally ''Saint-Rambert of Albon, Drôme, Albon''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Population Notable re ...

, France; his parents were farmers. He entered the Oblate novitiate at

Notre-Dame-de-l'Osier Notre-Dame-de-l'Osier is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is famous for being the location of a Marian apparition that took place in 1657. A church was built on the site of the apparition and completed in 1858. It ...

in 1853 and studied theology at Montolivet in Marseilles, where he took his vows the following year. In 1857 Clut went to Canada at the invitation of Bishop

Alexandre-Antonin Taché Alexandre-Antonin Taché (; 23 July 1823 – 22 June 1894) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, missionary of the Oblate order, author, and the first Archbishop of Saint Boniface in Manitoba, Canada. Early life Alexandre-Antonin Taché ...

of St Boniface, who ordained him that same year. Taché sent him to La Nativité mission at

Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is an unincorporated hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. History Fort Chipewyan is one of the oldest European settlements in the Provi ...

, where he served there from 1858 to 1869. La Nativité was the episcopal see of Bishop Henri Faraud, apostolic vicar of the Vicariate of Athabasca-Mackenzie. Faraud had become expert in the

Chipewyan language Chipewyan or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: ), often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers ...

and a book he had compiled was a great help to Clut. In 1864, Faraud, for whom traveling had become difficult due to rheumatic pain, received permission to name an auxiliary bishop, and chose Clut. Clut was assigned to Providence Mission in order to supervise the various mission stations, and spent a good deal of time traveling from one to another. In 1876, the mission at Salt River was moved from to Fort Smith, since the latter was growing. Faraud named it "St. Isidore", after his auxiliary.

Émile Grouard Émile Jean-Baptiste Marie Grouard O.M.I., "one of the most influential clerics in northern Alberta," was Apostolic Vicar of Athabasca. A gifted linguist, Grouard learned a number of languages of the indigenous peoples. Life Grouard was born at ...

succeeded Faraud as Apostolic Vicar in 1890; Clut continued as auxiliary bishop under Grouard. He died on July 9, 1903, at St. Bernard Mission, Grouard, Alberta.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clut, Isidore 1832 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada French emigrants to Canada Roman Catholic bishops of Grouard–McLennan Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate