Jozef De Kesel

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

His Eminence Jozef De Kesel
Cardinal, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels Primate of Belgium
De Kesel at his elevation to the cardinalate at the consistory
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Mechelen-Brussels
Appointed	6 November 2015
Installed	12 December 2015
Predecessor	André-Joseph Léonard
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo
Orders
Ordination	26 August 1972 by Leo-Karel Jozef De Kesel
Consecration	26 May 2002 by Godfried Danneels
Created cardinal	19 November 2016 by Pope Francis
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	17 June 1947 Ghent, Belgium
Previous post	Bishop of Bruges (2010–2015)
Alma mater	Catholic University of Leuven Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	"Vobiscum Christianus" (With you, I am a Christian)
Coat of arms

Ordination history of Jozef De Kesel
History Priestly ordination Date 26 August 1972 Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Godfried Daneels Co-consecrators Arthur Luysterman Rémy Victor Vancotten Date 26 May 2002 Cardinalate Elevated by Pope Francis Date 19 November 2016
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Jozef De Kesel as principal consecrator Lode Aerts 4 December 2016

Styles of Jozef De Kesel
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal

Early life

De Kesel was born in 1947 in Ghent. 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.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ghent on 26 August 1972 by his uncle Leo, who served as auxiliary bishop of Ghent. While in Ghent he taught Religious Education at the diocesan secondary school in Eeklo (1974–1980), and provided courses in Religion, Philosophical Anthropology and Contemporary Thought at a training college for social work (1977–1980), before becoming professor of fundamental theology and dogmatic theology at the Major Seminary of Ghent (1980–1996) and at the same time, Professor of Theology at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences in Ghent, where he was also Dean, professor of Christology at the Catholic University of Leuven (1989–1992), responsible for the formation of pastoral workers in Ghent (1983–2002), episcopal vicar for theological and pastoral training in the diocese of Ghent (1992–2002).

Bishop

Pope John Paul II appointed him titular Bishop of Bulna and auxiliary of Mechelen-Brussel on 20 March 2002. He was consecrated on 26 May and appointed Vicar General for the vicariate of Brussels. In the Belgian bishops' conference he has been 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).

After 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, and then making De Kesel a cardinal.[1][2]

On 25 June 2010, he was appointed bishop of Bruges after the early resignation of Roger Vangheluwe[3] 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."[4]

Archbishop

On 6 November 2015 Pope Francis named De Kesel to succeed André-Joseph Léonard as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium.[5] He was installed at a Mass attended by the Belgian monarch on 12 December 2015. [6]

Carl E. Olson of the Catholic World Report regards De Kesel as a theological liberal, noting his support of Cardinal Walter Kasper's proposal to allow couples who have divorced and remarried to receive Holy Communion.[7] 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."[8]

Pope Francis made De Kesel a cardinal in the consistory of 19 November 2016.[9]

On 23 December 2017 Pope Francis appointed De Kesel a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.[10][11] He was named a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture on 11 November 2019.[12]

Ordinations

• Lode Aerts; bishop of Bruges
• Lode Van Hecke; bishop of Ghent

References

1. Gagliarducci, Andrea (1 September 2019). "Five keys to interpreting Pope Francis' sixth consistory". Catholic News Agency.
2. de Souza, Raymond (21 January 2016). "Is Francis really against Benedict?". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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.
4. Waterfield, Bruno (21 September 2010). "Belgian bishops question whether priests need be celibate". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
5. "Jozef De Kesel: 'Kerk moet een open gemeenschap worden'". De Standaard (in Dutch). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
6. "Belgian Monarchs Attend Mass in Mechelen". Royal Hats.
7. Olson, Carl E. (9 November 2015). "New Belgium Archbishop: "Mercy" is "somewhat condescending...I like words like 'respect' and 'esteem'"". Catholic World Report. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
8. Lamb, Christopher (6 November 2015). "Moderate named new head of Catholic Church in Belgium". The Tablet. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
9. "Pope announces 17 new Cardinals in consistory". Vatican Radio. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
10. "Kardinaal De Kesel krijgt nieuwe functie in het Vaticaan". De Standaard (in Dutch). 24 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
11. "Resignations and Appointments, 23.12.2017" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
12. "Resignations and Appointments, 11.11.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

External links

• "De Kesel Card. Jozef". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
• "Mgr. Jozef De Kesel, primat de Belgique et futur cardinal". La Libre (in French). 9 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.