Antonius Lambertus Maria Hurkmans (born 3 August 1944) is Bishop emeritus of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch The Roman Catholic Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch ( la, Dioecesis Buscoducensis) is a diocese of the Catholic church in the Netherlands. The modern diocese was created in 1853. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Utrecht. It is currently led by ...

. His motto is: ''Sancti Spiritus In virtute'' (The power of the Holy Spirit).

Early years and calling to the priesthood

Antoon Hurkmans was born in Somernen and grew up in a farming family of nine children. He took his vegetable and grocery diploma and had really his own grocery store in

Echt, Netherlands Echt (; ) is a city in the Dutch municipality of Echt-Susteren in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It was a municipality itself until it merged with the municipality of Susteren on 1 January 2003. The municipality of Echt had about 19,30 ...

. Because he felt called to the priesthood, he sold his shop and then studied at the College for Late Vocations in

Warnsveld Warnsveld is a town in the eastern Netherlands, about 2 km east of Zutphen. History The first mention of the village in writing is from the year 1121 as Wansveld, and means "field of Warin or Warni (person)". Warnsveld developed in the Mid ...

. In 1966 he went to the Latin School in

Gemert Gemert is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Gemert-Bakel. Gemert was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Bakel. The spoken language is Peellands (an East Brabantian dialect, ...

and three years later he spent some time in the

Grimbergen Abbey Grimbergen Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery in Grimbergen, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, established in 1128 in the place of an earlier foundation of Augustinian Canons. The abbey itself was dissolved in 1796 in the aftermath of the French ...

, Belgium. In 1972 Hurkmans left the monastery and went to study theology at the

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a public university, public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilb ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1978.

Ecclesiastical career

Hurkmans was ordained priest on 22 December 1979 by Bishop

Johannes Bluyssen Johannes Willem Maria Bluyssen or Bluijssen (Nijmegen 10 April 1926 − 8 August 2013) was a Dutch people, Dutch Catholic bishop. Life Ordained to the priesthood in 1950, Bluyssen attained a degree in theology and was professor for Spirituality a ...

. He then worked in Waalwijk (Saint Anthony Parish), from December 1, 1980, as pastor. Monsignor Johannes Gerardus ter Schure appointed him in August 1987 rector of the new seminary, St. John's Centre. In March 1988 he became vicar general and

provost (religion) A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian Churches. Historical development The word ''praepositus'' (Latin: "set over", from ''praeponere'', "to place in front") was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary. ...

of the cathedral chapter of the

. Because of his merits for the seminary

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 him on his birthday in 1994

Honorary prelate A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

. The pope appointed him bishop for the

in June 1998. On August 29, 1998, he was consecrated bishop by Johannes Gerardus ter Schure,

, Martinus Petrus Maria Muskens,

Frans Wiertz Franciscus Jozef Maria (Frans) Wiertz (December 2, 1942) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was bishop of Roermond from 1993 until 2017. Early life Born in Kerkrade as the oldest in a family of nine, Wiertz studied at the Minor semin ...

and

Joseph Frans Lescrauwaet Joseph Frans Lescrauwaet, M.S.C. (19 June 1923 – 19 November 2013) was a Dutch prelate of the Catholic Church. Lescrauwaet was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands and was ordained a priest on 12 September 1948 from religious order of Missionaries o ...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090307230957/http://www.katholieknederland.nl/rkkerk/kerkprovincie/bisschoppenconferentie/index_hurkmans.html * http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bhurkmans.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurkmans, Antonius Lambertus Maria 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands 1944 births People from Someren Living people Tilburg University alumni Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands