Paul Schruers (1929–2008) was the second Bishop of Hasselt in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Life

Schruers was born in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

on 25 October 1929. He experienced a sense of religious vocation from the age of 16. He studied at the minor seminary in Sint-Truiden and the

Diocesan Seminary of Liège The Diocesan Seminary of Liège (in French: ''Séminaire épiscopal'' or ''Grand Séminaire de Liège''), now also Espace Prémontrés, is an educational institution in the Diocese of Liège, founded in 1592. History The seminary was first founded ...

, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1954. From 1957 to 1967 he was professor of

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

at the Diocesan Seminary in Liège. He was appointed

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's ...

when the diocese of Hasselt was founded in 1967, and auxiliary bishop in 1970. On 15 December 1989 he succeeded Jozef Heusschen as bishop.

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 ...

accepted his resignation on 25 October 2004. After a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in May 2008 he never fully recovered. He died on 25 August 2008 and was buried at Klaarland Priory on 2 September, after a funeral mass in

Hasselt Cathedral St. Quentin's Cathedral ( nl, Sint-Quintinuskathedraal), also called Hasselt Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Hasselt Belgium. Its construction began in the 11th century, and continued for two centuries. It was elevated to the status of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schruers, Paul 1929 births 2008 deaths Bishops of Hasselt