André de Witte (31 December 1944 – 25 April 2021) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, originally from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He served as the Bishop of

Ruy Barbosa Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira (5 November 1849 – 1 March 1923), also known as Rui Barbosa, was a Brazilian polymath, diplomat, writer, jurist, and politician. Born in Salvador, Bahia, and a distinguished and staunch defender of civil liberties and ...

, Bahia in northeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 1994 to retirement in 2020.

Life

André De Witte was born into a farming family in the village of

Scheldewindeke Oosterzele () is a municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of , , , , Oosterzele proper and . In 2021, Oosterzele had a total population of 13,740. The total area is 43.12&nbs ...

, in the intensively developed countryside to the south of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. He was the third child of Armand and Agnes de Witte (born Agnes Delbeke, 1906-1983). He undertook his studies for the priesthood in response to the call of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

in the encyclical

Fidei donum This is a list of encyclicals of Pope Pius XII. Pius XII promulgated 41 papal encyclicals, during his reign as pope for over 19 years, from his election of March 2, 1939, until his death on October 9, 1958. The 41 encyclicals of Pius XII exceed ...

, attending the College for Latin America in Leuven (Louvain) where he was ordained on 6 July 1968. During the next few years he worked as an agricultural engineer in Leuven (Louvain). In 1973 he embarked on a two-year interneeship for the priesthood in Zwijndrecht. At the end of January 1976 de Witte left for

, arriving on 12 February. For the next 18 years he worked in the rural parish of

Inhambupe Inhambupe is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Bahia in the Nordeste, North-East region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Bahia References

Municipalities in Bahia Populated places e ...

in the newly formed

Roman Catholic Diocese of Alagoinhas The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alagoinhas ( la, Dioecesis Alacunensis) is a diocese located in the city of Alagoinhas in the Ecclesiastical province of São Salvador da Bahia in Brazil. History * 28 October 1974: Established as Diocese of Alago ...

. During this period he served as an episcopal vicar for the

Sertão The ''sertão'' (, plural ''sertões'') is the "hinterland" or "backcountry". In Brazil, it refers both to one of the four sub-regions of the Northeast Region of Brazil (similar to the specific association of "outback" with Australia in English ...

, spiritual director of the seminarians, diocesan coordinator of the rural region and vicar general. On 8 June 1994, André de Witte was nominated as the fourth bishop of the diocese of

: on 28 August he was consecrated by the Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia, Cardinal

Lucas Moreira Neves Lucas Moreira Neves O.P. (16 September 1925 – 8 September 2002) was a Brazilian Cardinal Bishop and Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Biography Moreira Neves was born in São João del Rei, in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. He was orda ...

, OP. Principal co-consecrators were the bishops

Jaime Mota de Farias Jaime Mota de Farias (12 November 1925 – 13 April 2021) was a Brazilian Catholic bishop. Mota de Farias was born in Brazil and was ordained to the priesthood in 1957. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nazaré, B ...

and, from

Arthur Luysterman Arthur Luysterman (born 18 March 1932) is a Belgian Roman Catholic Bishop. He served as the twenty-ninth Bishop of Ghent between 1991 and 2003. Life Arthur Luysterman was born in Meerbeke, a village in the intensively developed countryside betw ...

. Bishop de Witte embarked on his episcopal mission on 18 September 1994, taking as his episcopal motto, "Cristo Sempre" (''Always in Christ''). Between 1995 and 2003 de Witte served as chairman of the SPM (Serviço Pastoral dos Migrantes). He also became the president of the

Juazeiro Juazeiro, formerly also known as Joazeiro, is a municipality in the state of Bahia, in the northeastern region of Brazil. The city is twinned with Petrolina, in the state of Pernambuco. The two cities are connected by a modern bridge crossing ...

-based IRPAA (Instituto Regional da Pequena Agropecuária Apropriada). In addition, he represented the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the CESE (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviços). In 2000

and

became sister dioceses. In 2015 Dom André was elected vice-chair of the Country Commission(''"Comissão Pastoral da Terra"'' / CPT) of the Brazilian bishops. André De Witte died on 25 April 2021, in the hospital at

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

(

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

). He was 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Witte, André 1944 births 2021 deaths People from East Flanders 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil Belgian emigrants to Brazil Catholic University of Leuven alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Ruy Barbosa