Camillus Paul Maes

Camillus Paul Maes (March 13, 1846 – May 11, 1915) was a Belgian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the third bishop of Covington in Kentucky from 1885 until his death in 1915. He remains the longest-serving bishop of the diocese and, during his 30 years in office, he was most notably responsible for building the current Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

Early life and education Camillus Paul Maes (recorded as Camille Polydore Maes in the civil record of his birth) was born in Kortrijk, West Flanders, in Belgium on March 13, 1846. He was the only child of Jean Baptiste and Justine (née Ghyoot) Maes. Orphaned by age 16, he was subsequently raised by an uncle. He received his classical education at St. Amand's College in Kortrijk, graduating in 1863. He then entered the Minor Seminary of Roeselare and continued his studies for the priesthood at the Major Seminary of Bruges, studying under the theologian Bernard Jungmann at both institutions.

In 1867, Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere was touring Belgium to recruit priests for the Diocese of Detroit in the United States. Two days later, Maes celebrated his first mass at the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk. At St. Peter's, Maes established a parochial school with the help of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The congregation at St. Mary's consisted of both French and English-speaking Catholics. However, Bishop Caspar Henry Borgess soon directed Maes to organize a new parish to accommodate the growing number of English-speaking parishioners. During his seven years at St. John, he wrote a widely a widely acclaimed biography of his fellow Belgian Charles Nerinckx, one of the first Catholic missionaries in Kentucky and the founder of the Sisters of Loretto.

Borgess named Maes as his secretary and chancellor of the diocese in 1880. When the Diocese of Grand Rapids was erected in 1882, Maes was included on the list of candidates for bishop that was sent to Rome. However, the pope decided to appoint Reverend Henry Richter. He was the first diocesan priest from Detroit to become a bishop. As bishop-elect, Maes attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore from November to December 1884. Maes soon began plans for the construction of a new cathedral, a process that would span his entire time as bishop. In 1890 he purchased a property at Madison Avenue and Twelfth Street in the center of Covington. He hired a Detroit architect who had worked on the Church of Sainte Anne de Détroit in Michigan. The architect based his plans for the new cathedral on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France. Ground was first broken on April 13, 1894, and the cornerstone was laid on September 8, 1895. After returning to the Kentucky, Maes' health began to deteriorate, worsened by his diabetes. He died at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Covington on May 11, 1915, aged 69.