Franciscus Jozef Maria (Frans) Wiertz (December 2, 1942) is a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of 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 ...

. He was

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 c ...

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

from 1993 until 2017.

Early life

Born in

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

as the oldest in a family of nine, Wiertz studied at the

Minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...

Rolduc Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a '' rijksmonument'' (Dutch n ...

, from where he graduated in 1961, having passed his state examinations. He studied history for a year at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

, before starting his studies to become a priest in 1962 in

and

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg ...

. He studied at the seminary in

starting in 1964.

Priesthood

Wiertz was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

on September 23, 1967, and ordained to the priesthood on March 30, 1968, by Petrus Moors, bishop of

. He worked as a chaplain at the saints

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

Schaesberg Schaesberg ( li, D'r Sjeet ) is a neighbourhood of Landgraaf and former village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. History The village was first mentioned in 16th century as Gaesberg. The etymology is unknown. ...

, before being asked to build a church and to start a new parish for the new neighbourhood ''De Heeg'' in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

in 1977; the saints

Monulph Monulph was a sixth-century bishop of Tongeren and Maastricht, and is revered as a Roman Catholic saint. Little is known about his life. The Acta Sanctorum only lists two vitae of Monulph, none of them older than the 11th century. His birthplace ...

and Gondulph parish. In 1981 he was installed there as priest, which he would remain until 1985, when he became

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the deanery of

Hoensbroek Hoensbroek ( li, Gebrook) is a Dutch town in the municipality of Heerlen. It is situated in the southeast of Limburg, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is known for its ...

and priest of the saint

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given ...

parish in Hoensbroek. In 1991 he became dean of the deanery of

, succeeding

Jos Punt Jozef Marianus "Jos" Punt (born 10 January 1946) was the Roman Catholic bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2020. Early life Joseph Marianus Punt was born on 10 January 1946 in Alkmaar, North Holland, Netherlands. In his ...

, the later bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, and also became priest of the saint Pancras parish in Heerlen. In that same year he was also named a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of the Roermond chapter, of which he became chairman in 1992.

Bishop of Roermond

In 1993 bishop Joannes Gijsen of Roermond stepped down due to declining health. On July 10, 1993, Wiertz was appointed bishop of

. He received his

episcopal consecration 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 ...

on September 25 of that year, from Adrianus Johannes Cardinal Simonis, archbishop of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, with the bishop of

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

, Joannes Gerardus ter Schure, and the auxiliary bishop of Roermond, Alphonsus Maria Henricus Antonius Castermans, serving as co-consecrators. He chose the motto ''Geef, Heer, liefde en geloof aan uw Kerk'' (English: Give, Lord, love and faith to your Church). As a bishop he was principal consecrator of bishop

Everardus Johannes de Jong Everardus Johannes (Everard) de Jong (July 4, 1958) is a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is auxiliary bishop of Roermond since 1999.Jozef Marianus Punt,

Antonius Lambertus Maria Hurkmans Antonius Lambertus Maria Hurkmans (born 3 August 1944) is Bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch. His motto is: ''Sancti Spiritus In virtute'' (The power of the Holy Spirit). Early years and calling to the priesthood ...

, Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, Johannes Wilhelmus Maria Liesen and Robertus Gerardus Leonia Maria Mutsaerts. Wiertz was vice-chairman of the

Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands The Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlandse Bisschoppenconferentie) is a permanent body within the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands which determines policies and directs the apostolic mission within the Netherlands. It i ...

, in charge of communications and media.

Sexual abuse

In 2014 two complaints against Wiertz's predecessor in the diocese of Roermond, Joannes Gijsen, for sexual abuse dating from the period 1958–1961, were deemed valid by the complaints commission of the Catholic Church. The determination that complaints were valid was the first time against a Dutch bishop. Wiertz apologized for Gijsen's behaviour. In the late 2010s it became known to the public that Wiertz had appointed two pastors who were known to Wierts to have a history of abusing youngsters. One of the pastors repeated his offences, for which he was transferred to another parish.Ook in Nederland hielden bisschoppen en kardinalen misbruik in stand
NRC, 14 september 2018

Retirement

On 2 December 2017 Wiertz retired as bishop of Roermond upon reaching the age of 75 years, the retirement age for priests, stating that increasing loss of eyesight was limiting his work. The cathedral chapter made three unanimous suggestions to the nuntius to fill the vacancy, which were rejected. This was followed by a vacancy of a year, during which

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

Hub Schnackers acted as

diocesan administrator :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admin ...

. On 8 December 2018 Harrie Smeets, dean of the deanery of Venray and a member of the cathedral chapter, was appointed bishop of Roermond. After his retirement Wiertz settled in

and remains part of the administration of the diocese of Roermond as bishop emeritus.Administration
website of the diocese of Roermond, reviewed on 1 April 2019

References

External links

Biography of Frans Wiertz
on the website of the diocese of Roermond

at

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiertz, Frans 1942 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands People from Kerkrade Bishops of Roermond