The Diocese of Antwerp is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Catholic Church in Belgium The Catholic Church in Belgium, part of the global Catholic Church in Belgium, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome and the Episcopal Conference of Bishops. Dioceses There are eight dioceses, including one archdioces ...

. The diocese was restored in 1961. It is a suffragan in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of the metropolitan

Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. Its cathedra is found within the Cathedral of Our Lady.

History

In the Middle Ages, Antwerp was within the

Diocese of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-He ...

. In 1559, at the instance of Philip II of Spain, a new arrangement of the episcopal sees of the Low countries was made by

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pa ...

. Three archiepiscopal and fourteen episcopal sees were created, and all external jurisdiction, however ancient, abolished. Antwerp became one of the six suffragans of

Mechlin Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

, and remained such until the end of the eighteenth century. This step did not meet with the goodwill of the merchants of the city, who feared the introduction of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

and the costliness of an episcopal establishment, and urged the transfer of the new see to Leuven, where it would be less offensive to the non-Catholic elements of their city. Catholic monastic interests were active, being now called on by the Pope to provide for the support of the new see. Finally, the famous theologian

Franciscus Sonnius Franciscus Sonnius (12 August 1506 – 30 June 1576) was a theologian during the time of the Catholic Reformation, the first bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch and later the first bishop of Antwerp. His family name was Van de Velde, but in later years ...

(from

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

) was transferred from the diocese of Bois-le-Duc to Antwerp in 1569 as first bishop of the new see, and governed it until his death in 1576. Ten years of religious and political conflict elapsed before another bishop could be appointed in the person of

Laevinus Torrentius Laevinus Torrentius, born Lieven van der Beke (1525–1595), was the second bishop of Antwerp. Career He studied philosophy and law at Leuven University and then at the University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Stud ...

(Lieven van der Beken or Liévin van der Beken), a Leuven theologian, graceful humanist, and diplomat. He died in 1595. The scholarly

Joannes Miraeus Joannes Miraeus, Latinized from Jean Le Mire (1560–1611) was the fourth bishop of Antwerp. Life Le Mire was born in Brussels on 6 January 1560. He was educated in the city, and began studies at Louvain University, but due to the unsettled c ...

(or Le Mire) was Bishop of Antwerp from 1604 to 1611, and was succeeded in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by a series of fifteen bishops, the last of whom was

Cornelius Franciscus Nelis Cornelius Franciscus Nelis (1736—1798) was the last bishop of Antwerp before the suppression of the diocese during the French period. Life Nelis was born in Mechelen on 5 June 1736, the son of Cornelis Nelis, advocate of the Great Council of Me ...

, librarian of the University of Leuven and Bishop of Antwerp from 1785 to his death in 1798. In accordance with the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation ...

, Pope Pius VII suppressed the see on 29 November 1801, by the Bull ''Qui Christi Domini vices'', its former Belgian territory transferred to the Archdiocese of Mechlin, the Dutch portion to the

Diocese of Breda The Roman Catholic Diocese of Breda is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands. Description It was erected on March 14, 1853, with Johannes van Hooydonk being made its first bishop. The current bishop is Joh ...

. The diocese was restored in 1961 by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

. It comprises the territory of the Belgian

province of Antwerp ) , native_name_lang = nl , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Antwerp.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van de provincie Antwerpen.svg , shield_size ...

, minus eight

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the south which belong to Mechelen-Brussels including Bonheiden,

Duffel Duffel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Duffel proper. On 1 January 2020, Duffel had a total population of 17,664. The total area is 22.71 km² which gives a population den ...

, Mechelen and

Sint-Katelijne-Waver Sint-Katelijne-Waver (, old spelling: ''Kathelijne-Waver''; french: Wavre-Sainte-Catherine, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver and Sint-Katelijne-Waver ...

, and the municipality of Zwijndrecht, which belongs to the

Diocese 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 metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel ...

. The abbeys and convents of Antwerp were long very famous centres of its religious life. In the twelfth century the Canons Regular of St. Norbert (

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

) founded the abbey of St. Michael, that would become one of the principal abbeys of the Low Countries, sheltered many royal guests, and eventually excited greed and persecution by reason of its wealth. The Cathedral of Antwerp was originally a small Premonstratensian shrine known familiarly as "Our Lady of the Stump." Many other religious orders found a shelter in Antwerp, Dominicans,

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

(1446),

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

(1494),

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...

(1632), and female branches of the same. The Cistercians had two great abbeys, St. Sauveur, founded in 1451 by the devout merchant Peter Pot, and St. Bernard, about six miles from Antwerp, founded in 1233.

Papebroch Daniel Papebroch, S.J., (17 March 1628 – 28 June 1714) was a Flemish Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church. Life ...

, "Annales Antuerpienses," to the year 1600, ed. Mertens and Buchmann, Antwerp, 1846–48.

List of bishops

1559–1798

*1559–1568: ''vacant'' *1569–1576:

(Frans van der Velde) *1576–1586: ''vacant'' *1586–1595:

(Liévin van der Beken) *1597–1601: Guillaume de Berghes *1603–1611: Johannes Miraeus (Le Mire) *1611–1633:

Johannes Malderus Johannes Malderus (1563–1633) was the fifth bishop of Antwerp and the founder of Malderus College at the University of Leuven. Ch. Piot, "Malderus (Jean)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 13(Brussels, 1895), 223-226. Life Malderus ...

(Jan van Malderen) *1634–1651:

Gaspard Nemius Gaspard du Bois, Latinized Nemius (1587–1667) was the sixth bishop of Antwerp and the ninth archbishop of Cambrai. Life Nemius was born in 's-Hertogenbosch on 23 April 1587. He studied at the University of Douai, graduating Doctor of Sacred Theo ...

(Gaspard Van Den Bosch) *1652–1676: Ambrosius (or Marius) Capello *1677–1678: Aubertus van den Eede *1679–1699: Joannes Ferdinandus Van Beughem *1700–1706: Reginaldus Cools *1707–1727: Peter Josef de Francken-Sierstorff *1727–1742: Carolus d'Espinoza *1742–1744: Guilielmus Philippus de Herzelles *1746–1746: Josephus Werbrouck *1749–1758: Dominicus de Gentis *1758–1775: Hendrik Gabriel van Gameren *1776–1784: Jacob Thomas Jozef Wellens *1785–1798:

1961–current

*1962–1977: *1977–1980:

Godfried Danneels Godfried Maria Jules Danneels (4 June 1933 – 14 March 2019) was a Belgian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and the chairman of the episcopal conference of his native country ...

*1980–2009: Paul Van den Berghe *2009–current: Johan Bonny

References

External links