Ferdinand Tonssaint Francois Chatel, abbe, a French religious reformer, born at Gannat, Jan. 9, 1795, died in Paris, Feb. 13, 1857. His parents were poor, and he was apprenticed to a tailor; but his parish priest, pleased with the boy's religious zeal, defrayed the expenses of his education. He was ordained as a priest in 1818, and became vicar at Moulins and elsewhere, and afterward was chaplain in the army till about 1830. Having acquired celebrity as a preacher, and written in favor of theological reforms, he attempted in 1831 to found a new sect, based upon natural religion, venerating Christ only as a model man, doing away with the confessional, fasting, and vows of chastity, and substituting French for Latin in the liturgy. He was consecrated as the primate of the so-called French Catholic church, which gained many adherents. He was not molested by the authorities till 1842, when his places of worship were closed. After the revolution of Feb. 24, 1848, he reopened them and came forward as a champion of women's rights. In 1850 the authorities again put an end to his public performances, but he remained faithful to his convictions to the last. He was employed as a metropolitan postmaster in the latter part of his life.

His principal publications are, Profession de foi de l'eglise eatho-lique frangaise (Paris, 1831), and Le code de l'humanite, ou L'Humanite ramenee d la con-naissance du vrai Dieu et au veritable socia-lisme(18m).