Casimir Alexis Joseph Wicart was born at Méteren (Nord) on March 4, 1799. After his ordination in 1821, he worked as assistant priest and parish priest in a few parishes of Lille, then, as vicar general. Appointed bishop of Fréjus by the king on March 29, 1845, he was confirmed in that post by the Pope on April 24, 1845. When the diocese of Laval was created in 1855, Bishop Wicart was designated for that diocese where he remained until 1876. He then offered his resignation and died on April 8, 1879.
He got to know Bishop de Mazenod and got along well with him. He visited Bishop de Mazenod in Marseilles in 1846 and in 1851. They worked together during the provincial council of Aix which was held from September 8 to September 28, 1850. It was Bishop Wicart who entrusted the direction of the major seminary of Fréjus to the Oblates where they remained from 1851 to 1901. (see article: Fréjus, major seminary) In 1851, Bishop Wicart was co-consecrator for Bishop Jean-François Allard, o.m.i., along with Bishop Hippolyte Guibert, o.m.i. Bishop de Mazenod went to visit him in Fréjus in December of 1853.
Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i.
