Nicolas Adames (29 December 1813 – 13 February 1887) was the first
Bishop of Luxembourg
The archbishop of Luxembourg is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic archbishopric of Luxembourg. The position was created on 23 April 1988, when Luxembourg was promoted from a bishopric. The seat of the see is Notre-Dame Cathedral, in Luxembourg C ...
.
Life
He was born in
Troisvierges
Troisvierges (; lb, Ëlwen ; german: Ulflingen) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, in the canton of Clervaux. The two highest hills in Luxembourg, the Kneiff (560 m) and Buurgplaatz (559 m), are located in the commune.
, the town of T ...
in 1813, the only child of the farmer Jean Adames and Marie Magdalena Wangen.
Nicolas Adames' father died in 1818 before he was 5 years old. His mother became remarried to a widower, Nikolaus Köcher from
Basbellain, with whom she had more children. In his village, Nicolas started teaching at the age of 12. He learned French in Belgium, and worked for an accountant for one year. Under his village priest, he studied to join the ''Petit Séminaire'' in
Bastogne
Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...
, but went instead to the
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
in
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
, and was ordained a priest on 25 August 1839.
In 1841 he became a chaplain in
Echternach
Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in L ...
before Bishop
Jean-Théodore Laurent
Jean-Théodore Laurent (6 July 1804 – 20 February 1884) was the Apostolic Vicar of Luxembourg from 1841 to 1856.
Biography
Laurent was born in 1804 in Aachen to a family of modest means. His father, the Luxembourger Franz Laurent, had 14 ...
, the
Apostolic Vicar
Apostolic may refer to:
The Apostles
An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission:
*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles
*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
in Luxembourg from 1840, made Adames priest of the
Notre-Dame Church of the
fortress city of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. In 1845 he became the bishop's secretary.
When Jean-Théodore Laurent had to leave the country under pressure from
anti-clericalists, Nicolas Adames provisionally administered the Apostolic Vicariate. During this period, Luxembourg and its majority Catholic population were ruled by the Protestant Dutch King-Grand Duke
William II, and by an anti-church government.
On 27 March 1863 he was appointed
titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of
Halicarnassos by Pope
Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
, and made Apostolic Vicar of Luxembourg. His consecration was on 29 June 1863 under a picture of the Virgin Mary in the Church of Notre-Dame.
In December 1869 he participated, as one of 744, in the
First Vatican Council
The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...
in Rome.
On 27 June 1870, the Apostolic Vicariate of Luxembourg was elevated to a diocese, and Nicolas Adames became the first Bishop of Luxembourg. His enthronement was on 25 December. The Church of Notre-Dame became the episcopal see, and thus, a cathedral.
When his successor,
Jean Joseph Koppes, was appointed in 1883 by Pope
Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
, Nicolas Adames retired to the
Redemptorist
The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...
monastery on the Place du Théâtre. He died on 13 February 1887. For political reasons he was buried on 17 February in the
Glacis
A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More genera ...
chapel, which had been built at his instigation.
Work
As pro-vicar, Adames had seen it as his goal to promote a real religiosity through popular missions. For this reason, he called the Redemptorists to Luxembourg in 1849, who settled around the Saint-Alphonse Church.
Although he had not yet been consecrated a bishop, he received permission in 1859 to administer the sacrament of
confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
. In 4 years, he confirmed around 57,000 people on his many parish visits. This created a strong awareness of the church amongst the population. He was also not afraid to officially condemn the reading and spreading of anti-clerical texts.
For the second centenary of the election of Mary the Comforter in 1866 the shrine image was ceremonially crowned, at the wish of the Pope, by Cardinal Karl von Reisach and 7 other bishops on 2 July 1866. The Virgin Mary octave was thus strengthened.
Nicolas Adames took an oath in case Luxembourg remained unharmed in the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and retained its internationally recognised neutrality. He had pledged to build a chapel to the Virgin Mary with his own money in front of the former city walls on the Glacis. On 8 September 1885, the Glacis chapel was consecrated by his successor, Bishop Koppes.
He showed his loyalty to the Pope in defending papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council.
Elements of Adames's administration of his new bishopric still exist today, such as the ''Kirchlicher Anzeiger für die Diözese Luxemburg''.
References
External links
* Hellinghausen, Georges: Portrait of Nicolas Adames o
cathol.lu* Jeck, Marc
''Er war stets der wärmste Patriot'' on the 125th anniversary of Nicolas Adames' death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adames, Nicolas
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Luxembourg
1813 births
1887 deaths
Participants in the First Vatican Council
Apostolic vicars of Luxembourg