Pierre Nommesch (16 December 1864 – 9 October 1935) was the
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 ...
from 1920 to 1935.
Biography
At the age of 26, on 28 October 1890 Nommesch was ordained a priest. On 8 March 1920 he was appointed Bishop of Luxembourg and on 25 March 1920 was consecrated by
Sebastiano Nicotra. He remained in office until his death.
He became bishop after a long period of ''
sede vacante
''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation.
Hi ...
'', which was due to challenges to Luxembourg's national sovereignty after the Armistice of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
[ Hellinghausen, Georges]
"Pierre Nommesch (1920-1935)"
(in German) Catholic Church in Luxembourg. Retrieved on 18 October 2013.
His time in office was one of reconciliation and understanding between state and the church:
The conflict around schools received a compromise solution in 1921, so that religious education, relegated to the church parishes since 1912, now once again had a place in public education.
Under his episcopate, loyalty to the monarchy and to Luxembourgish traditions, closeness to Rome (with pilgrimages to the "holy city", and celebration of the papal coronation anniversaries) and
veneration of the Virgin Mary (expansion of the cathedral, started in 1935) remained important facets of Luxembourgish Catholicism.
Further religious-pastoral high points of his time in office were the Eucharistic National Congress in 1924, increased devotion to the
Sacred Heart
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...
, the rebuilding of the seminary at Limpertsberg in 1930, and a consolidation of associations in the Belgian-inspired
Catholic Action
Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...
after 1930.
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nommesch, Pierre
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Luxembourg
1864 births
1935 deaths
Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg