His Eminence

Jozef De Kesel
Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
ArchdioceseMechelen-Brussels
Appointed6 November 2015
Installed12 December 2015
Term ended22 June 2023
PredecessorAndré-Joseph Léonard
SuccessorLuc Terlinden
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo
Orders
Ordination26 August 1972
by Leo-Karel De Kesel
Consecration26 May 2002
by Godfried Danneels
Created cardinal19 November 2016
by Pope Francis
RankCardinal Priest
Personal details
Born (1947-06-17) 17 June 1947
Ghent, Belgium
Previous post(s)
Alma materCatholic University of Leuven
Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto"Vobiscum Christianus"
(With you, I am a Christian)
Coat of armsJozef De Kesel's coat of arms
Ordination history of
Jozef De Kesel
History
Priestly ordination
Date26 August 1972
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorGodfried Daneels
Co-consecratorsArthur Luysterman
Rémy Victor Vancotten
Date26 May 2002
Cardinalate
Elevated byPope Francis
Date19 November 2016
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Jozef De Kesel as principal consecrator
Lode Aerts4 December 2016
Koenraad Vanhoutte18 May 2018
Lode Van Hecke23 February 2020
Luc Terlinden3 September 2023
Styles of
Jozef De Kesel
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal

Jozef De Kesel (born 17 June 1947) is a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 2015 to 2023, where he had been auxiliary bishop from 2002 to 2010. He served as Bishop of Bruges from 2010 to 2015 and has been a cardinal since 2016.

Early life

De Kesel was born on 17 June 1947 in Ghent, the sixth of eleven children.[1] He entered the seminary in 1965, studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Saint-Paul in Ghent and received his degree in Philosophy and Letters at the Catholic University of Leuven. From 1968 until 1972 he studied theology in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, he gained first his license and then in 1977 his doctorate.[2]

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ghent on 26 August 1972[2] by his uncle Leo-Karel De Kesel, an auxiliary bishop of Ghent.[1] While in Ghent he taught religious education at the diocesan secondary school in Eeklo from 1974 to 1980 and led courses in religion, philosophical anthropology and contemporary thought at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (Sociale Hogeschool Gent) from 1977 to 1980. He was professor of fundamental theology and dogmatic theology at the Major Seminary of Ghent from 1980 to 1996 and at the same time, Professor of Theology at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences in Ghent, where he was also dean. He was professor of Christology at the Catholic University of Leuven from 1989 to 1992. He also had responsibility for the formation of pastoral workers in Ghent from 1983 to 2002 and was episcopal vicar for theological and pastoral training in the diocese of Ghent from 1992 to 2002.[2]

Bishop

Pope John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Bulna and auxiliary of Mechelen-Brussel on 20 March 2002.[2] As his episcopal motto he chose the words of St. Augustine "Like you I am a Christian". He later explained he dropped the preceding words ("I am a bishop for you") to underscore his "first vocation" as a follower of Christ.[3] He was consecrated on 26 May and appointed Vicar General for the vicariate of Brussels.[4] While serving as auxiliary, in the Belgian bishops' conference he was responsible for the inter-diocesan Commission for Pastoral Liturgy (Flemish and French) and a delegate to the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).[4]

When Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, reached retirement age in 2008, the Nuncio to Belgium, Archbishop Karl-Josef Rauber, recommended De Kesel to succeed him, a candidacy supported by Danneels as well. Pope Benedict XVI ignored Rauber's recommendation and De Kesel remained an auxiliary. The affair was recalled in later years as Pope Francis took a different stance, making Rauber a cardinal, moving De Kesel to Mechelen-Brussels, and then making De Kesel a cardinal as well.[5][6]

On 25 June 2010, De Kesel was appointed bishop of Bruges after the early resignation of Roger Vangheluwe[4] and installed there on 10 July 2010.

In September 2010 De Kesel said: "I think the Church must ask itself the question of whether it is appropriate to keep the mandatory character of celibacy. We could say that there are celibate priests, but that people for whom celibacy is humanly impossible should also have the chance of becoming priests."[1][7]

Archbishop

On 6 November 2015 Pope Francis named De Kesel to succeed André-Joseph Léonard as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium.[8] He was installed at a Mass attended by Belgium's King Philippe on 12 December 2015.[9] Christopher Lamb calls him "a moderate in comparison with his conservative predecessor". He noted that the Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, had called for the recognition of same-sex relationships, while De Kesel by contrast said that universal respect, no matter one's sexual orientation, "is a value that the Gospel shares with modern culture."[10] In an interview upon his appointment, De Kesel said he was inspired in his vocation by the theologians Romano Guardini, Charles de Foucauld, Edward Schillebeeckx, Karl Rahner and Willem Barnard, and later Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He said he hoped the Church would accept that it is shrinking even as it "radiates conviction" and addresses social ills. He was disappointed the recent Synod on the Family had not resulted in allowing remarried Catholics to receive Communion, but thought the assembly demonstrated that the Church has a new mentality, adding: "For me, mercy is an important word, but somehow it still has something condescending about it. I like to take a word like respect and reverence for man as my starting point. And that is perhaps a value that we as Christians have in common with the prevailing culture."[3]

De Kesel was elected president of the Belgian Episcopal Conference on 26 January 2016[11] and served until he retired as archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels in 2023.

Pope Francis made De Kesel a cardinal in the consistory of 19 November 2016.[12]

On 23 December 2017 Pope Francis appointed De Kesel a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.[13][14] He was named a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture on 11 November 2019.[15]

He has advocated allowing 10-year-olds to both receive their First Communion and be confirmed.[3]

He was treated for cancer in 2020-21.[16]

In 2022, together with other bishops of Flanders, he published a formula for the blessing of same-sex couples, underlining that it is not to be understood as recognizing a different form of marriage.[17]

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 22 June 2023.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mgr. Jozef De Kesel, primat de Belgique et futur cardinal". La Libre (in French). 9 October 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Rinunce e Nomine, 20.03.2002" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 De Kesel, Jozef (6 November 2015). "Allereerste interview nieuwe aartsbisschop Jozef De Kesel". Kerknet-redactie (Interview). Interviewed by Lieve Wouters. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rinunce e Nomine, 25.06.2010". Holy See Press Office. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  5. ↑ Gagliarducci, Andrea (1 September 2019). "Five keys to interpreting Pope Francis' sixth consistory". Catholic News Agency.
  6. ↑ de Souza, Raymond (21 January 2016). "Is Francis really against Benedict?". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  7. ↑ Waterfield, Bruno (21 September 2010). "Belgian bishops question whether priests need be celibate". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "Jozef De Kesel: 'Kerk moet een open gemeenschap worden'". De Standaard (in Flemish). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Malines-Bruxelles: Mgr De Kesel prend possession de son siège" (in French). Vatican Radio. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Lamb, Christopher (6 November 2015). "Moderate named new head of Catholic Church in Belgium". The Tablet. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "La Conférence des Évêques". CathoBel (in French). Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Pope announces 17 new Cardinals in consistory". Vatican Radio. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "Kardinaal De Kesel krijgt nieuwe functie in het Vaticaan". De Standaard (in Flemish). 24 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments, 23.12.2017" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments, 11.11.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  16. ↑ De Kesel, Jozef (31 August 2021). "Belgian cardinal says the Church of the future will be more humble" (Interview). Interviewed by Christophe Henning. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Belgian bishops publish text for same-sex blessings". The Pillar. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Rinunce e nomine, 22.06.2023" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
Additional sources
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jozef De Kesel.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Jozef De Kesel.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.