Jacobus Wemmers

Jacobus Wemmers (1598–1645) was a Carmelite friar who served as apostolic legate to Ethiopia, and briefly bore the title of Titular Bishop of Memphis (1645).[1]

Most Reverend Jacobus Wemmers
Titular Bishop of Memphis
Church	Catholic Church
In office	1645
Successor	Francisco Suárez de Villegas
Orders
Consecration	24 April 1645 by Jerónimo Domín Funes
Personal details
Born	21 October 1598 Antwerp, Duchy of Brabant, Spanish Netherlands
Died	21 August 1645 (aged 46) Naples, Kingdom of Naples

Biography

Jacobus Wemmers was born in Antwerp, Duchy of Brabant (now Belgium), on 21 October 1598, the son of Gisbert Wemmers and Marie Hanotel.[2] He entered the Carmelite Order on 22 September 1616, and made his vows on 25 of September the following year. He showed a love of learning, and obtained a doctorate in theology.[3]

On 3 May 1640 Pope Urban VIII appointed him apostolic legate to Ethiopia, with faculties to use the Ethiopian liturgical rite.[4]

He was appointed Titular Bishop of Memphis on 24 April 1645, in the pontificate of Pope Innocent X, and on 5 June was consecrated bishop by Jerónimo Domín Funes, Bishop of Gaeta, with Placido Padiglia, Bishop of Alessano, and Francesco de' Notari, Bishop of Lavello, serving as co-consecrators.[5]

He died in Naples on 21 August 1645 ("the 12th of the calends of September"), while en route to Ethiopia.[2] He was buried in Santa Maria del Carmine, Naples, with an epitaph reading

D.O.M. Illustrissimus ac Reverendissimus Dom Fr. Jacobus Wemmers, Antverpiensis Carmelita, Mempheos Episcopus, scientiis, moribusque præclarus: gregem ardens maximè, ardores minimi facit æstivos: pro Ægypto cælum appellit: & qui Ecclesiæ multa scripsit, huic Ecclesiæ adscripsit ossa XII. kalendas septembris, anno Domini M.DC.XLV.

Works

• Lexicon Aethiopicum (Rome, Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 1638).[6]

References

1. Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Vol IV (in Latin). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. p. 239.
2. Jean-Noël Paquot, Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire littéraire des dix-sept provinces des Pays-Bas, de la principauté de Liège, et de quelques contrées voisines, vol. 5 (Leuven, University Press, 1765), pp. 230-232.
3. Descriptions historiques, chronologique et géographique du duché de Brabant (Brussels, 1756), p. 251.
4. New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, vol. 5 (2003), p. 404.
5. Cheney, David M. "Bishop Jacobus Wemmers, O. Carm". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. ^{[self-published]}
6. On Google Books.

External links and additional sources

• Cheney, David M. "Memphis (Titular See)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. (for Chronology of Bishops) ^{[self-published]}
• Chow, Gabriel. "Titular Episcopal See of Memphis (Egypt)". GCatholic.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. (for Chronology of Bishops) ^{[self-published]}