Roman Catholic Diocese of Namur

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Namur is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium.[1] It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.[2]

Diocese of Namur

Dioecesis Namurcensis

Diocèse de Namur (French)
Bistum Namur (German)
Bisdom Namen (Dutch)
Location
CountryBelgium
Ecclesiastical provinceMechelen-Brussels
MetropolitanArchdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels
Statistics
Area8,100 km2 (3,100 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2016)
765,000
500,000 (65.4%)
Information
DenominationRoman Catholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established12 May 1559
CathedralSt Aubin's Cathedral in Namur, Belgium
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopRémy Vancottem
Metropolitan ArchbishopAndré-Joseph Léonard
Auxiliary BishopsPierre Warin
Map

The Diocese of Namur, coextensive with the two provinces of Namur and Luxembourg
Website
Website of the Diocese

History

The diocese was constituted as a suffragan see of the new metropolitan see of Cambrai by the papal bull of 12 May 1559 establishing the new bishoprics in the Low Countries. Its territory had previously belonged to the Diocese of Liège. After suppression in the French period the diocese was re-established by the Concordat of 1801, its extent matching that of the Department of Sambre-et-Meuse, and as suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechlin. On 14 September 1823, the territory of the diocese was extended to include Luxembourg, which had previously been part of the Diocese of Metz. After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, a vicar apostolic was appointed for those parts of Luxembourg under Dutch control. As a result of the Treaty of London (1839) formalising the partition of Luxembourg between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Belgian Province of Luxembourg, in 1840 ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the whole territory of the grand duchy was given to the vicar apostolic of Luxembourg, its loss to the Diocese of Namur being formalised on 7 October 1842.[3]

In 1907, the Diocese of Namur numbered 583,722 inhabitants, 36 deaneries, 37 parishes, 677 succursals, 96 auxiliary chapels, 111 curacies paid by the State. Within the diocese, religious congregations administered 2 orphanages for boys, 7 for girls, 1 mixed, 18 hospitals or infirmaries, 4 clinics, 194 infant schools, 1 house of rescue, 6 houses for the care of the sick in their homes, 1 asylum for deaf mutes, 2 houses of retreat, 1 insane asylum.[3]

See
Main article: St Aubin's Cathedral

St Aubin's Cathedral in Namur was founded as a collegiate church in 1047 by Albert II of Namur. The first dean, Frederick of Lorraine, brother-in-law of Albert II, about 1050 secured from Mainz Cathedral a portion of the head of Saint Albinus, to whose patronage the collegiate church was dedicated. In 1057 Frederick became pope under the name of Stephen IX. In 1209, Pope Innocent III formally took the church under his protection.[3] With the exception of one tower, the cathedral was entirely rebuilt in Baroque style in the 1750s.

Bishops

Bishops of the first diocese

Bishops since 1802
  • Claude de Bexon (25 May 1802 – 15 Sep 1803)
  • Joseph Pisani de La Gaude (1803–1828)
  • Nicolas-Alexis Ondenard (1828–1830 )
  • Jean Arnold Barret (15 Apr 1833 – 31 Jul 1835 )
  • Nicolas-Joseph Dehesselle (1 Feb 1836 – 1865 )
  • Victor-Auguste-Isidor Deschamps (25 Sep 1865 – 20 Dec 1867 ), appointed Archbishop of Mechelen (Cardinal in 1875)
  • Théodore-Joseph Gravez (20 Dec 1867 – 1883 Died)
  • Pierre-Lambert Goosens (16 Jul 1883 – 24 Mar 1884 ), appointed Archbishop of Mechelen (Cardinal in 1889)
  • Édouard-Joseph Belin (27 Mar 1884 – 1892 )
  • Jean-Baptiste Decrolière ( 1892 – 1899 )
  • Thomas Louis Heylen (23 Oct 1899 – 28 Oct 1941 )
  • André Marie Charue (12 Dec 1941 – 24 Jun 1974 )
  • Robert-Joseph Mathen (24 Jun 1974 – 7 Feb 1991 )
  • Andre-Mutien Leonard (7 Feb 1991 – 18 Jan 2010), appointed Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel
  • Rémy Victor Vancottem (31 May 2010 – )

Coadjutor Bishops

Auxiliary Bishop
  • Jean-Baptiste Musty (1957-1991)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
  • Nikolaus Adames (priest here, 1839-1840), appointed Vicar Apostolic of Luxembourg in 1863
  • Guillaume-Philippe de Herzelles, appointed Bishop of Antwerp in 1743
  • Julien Ries, appointed titular archbishop and then Cardinal in 2012

References
  1. Namur - Catholic Encyclopedia article
  2. Diocese of Namur {Namen} from catholic-hierarchy.org
  3.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Georges Goyau (1913). "Diocese of Namur". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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