Arthur Luysterman (born 18 March 1932) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Roman Catholic Bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

. He served as the twenty-ninth

Bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

between 1991 and 2003.

Life

Arthur Luysterman was born in

Meerbeke Meerbeke is a village in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Ninove. This rural community is located along the Dender River on the western border of what is known as "Pajo ...

, a village in the intensively developed countryside between

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 ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He was the eldest of his parents' four children. He attended school locally, obtaining a grounding in Graeco-Latin

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

at the St Aloysius College in

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

and Our Lady's College,

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; french: Termonde, ) is a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-b ...

before abandoning an earlier ambition to become a lawyer and entering the seminary of

in 1950: he was ordained into the priesthood on 26 August 1956. He received a degrees and a doctorate in

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

from the

Catholic University of Louvain 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 1959. After this he joined the military seminary in Aalst the produced military chaplains (''"Centre d’Instruction de Base"'' / CIBE), initially as Professor of

Moral Theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

and later with more general responsibilities. However, over the years the number of candidates coming forward for training reduced, and in the end the institution was closed. After this, on 1 February 1973 he became chief chaplain to the Belgian armed forces, a post he retained till 13 July 1990. On 13 July 1990 (a Friday)

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed Luysterman

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

. He was consecrated a bishop by Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem, the Bishop of Ghent, on 21 October of the same year. Just over a year later, when Van Peteghem retired on 27 December 1991, Luysterman succeeded him. He took as his episcopal motto "Et in terra pax" (''"and Peace on Earth"''). He was the founder of the Fund for Church Buildings in the Diocese of Ghent. During his time the number of seminarians declined and the episcopal seminary was closed, but he insisted that the quality of candidates for ordination was more important than their quantity. On 28 August 1994 he was a principal co-consecrator of the Flemish born Bishop

André de Witte André de Witte (31 December 1944 – 25 April 2021) was a Roman Catholic bishop, originally from Belgium. He served as the Bishop of Ruy Barbosa, Bahia in northeastern Brazil from 1994 to retirement in 2020. Life André De Witte was born into ...

as bishop of Ruy Barbosa, Bahia in

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 ...

. On 11 October 2003 he was principal consecrator for Cardinal Joos. After reaching the age of 70, Arthur Luysterman offered his resignation to

the pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. This was accepted on 19 December 2003. Since then, as an emeritus bishop, he has nevertheless continued as a member of the Belgian Bishops' Conference.

References

20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic theologians Bishops of Ghent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium People from East Flanders 1932 births Living people {{Belgium-RC-bishop-stub