Jan Frans van de Velde (1779–1838) was the 20th

bishop 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 metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropol ...

, in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, from November 1829 until his death.F. Claeys-Bouuaert, "Velde, Jean-François van de", in ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 26
(Brussels, 1938), 537-543.

Life

Van de Velde was born in Boom on 8 September 1779. After secondary education at

Merksem Merksem (; former spelling: ''Merxem'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It has 44,808 inhabitants as of 2021. History The history of Merksem goes back to Gallo-Roman times. During that perio ...

, near

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, he began studying Philosophy and Theology at Antwerp seminary. His studies there were interrupted by the seminary's closure in 1797. He was ordained priest at Emmerich am Rhein in 1802. Between 1803 and 1825 he served in a number of parishes in and around Antwerp. On 13 April 1825 was named dean of Lier, and in 1829, to his surprise, bishop of Ghent, in succession to Maurice-Jean de Broglie, who had been banished in 1817 and died in 1821. He arrived in Ghent on 7 November 1829 and was consecrated the following day in his cathedral by the bishop of Tournai. He was solemnly enthroned on 18 November. His relations with the government of the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

were difficult, due to differing interpretations of rights to religious liberty and free expression. He swiftly placed himself under the authority of the

Provisional Government of Belgium The Provisional Government (; ) was the first iteration of the Belgian state, formed in the midst of the Belgian Revolution. After Dutch forces were expelled from Brussels on 27 September 1830, the recently created Revolutionary Committee tr ...

set up by the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

. On 27 May 1834 the diocese of Ghent was split to re-establish the diocese of Bruges, the territory of which now corresponded to the province of

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

. Van de Velde approved and encouraged new congregations for charitable apostolates, including the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, and was active in the establishment of diocesan schools, minor seminaries, and parish Sunday schools. One of his first actions as bishop, on 2 December 1829, had been to decree the re-establishment of the Major Seminary of Ghent, which reopened on 3 February 1830. In 1833 the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

obtained permission to set up the

Sint-Barbaracollege Sint-Barbaracollege in Ghent, Belgium, is a public Jesuit school, founded in 1833. It currently includes primary and secondary education. History The school is built on the location of a cloister, the "Sint Barbaraklooster in Jerusalem". The clo ...

in the city, and the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

returned to Ghent in 1835. At a meeting of the Belgian bishops in

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen 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 context. T ...

, in the summer of 1833, Van de Velde proposed the founding of the Catholic University of Belgium, which opened in Mechelen on 4 November 1834, and transferred to Leuven in 1835 as the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

. He died at Ghent on 7 August 1838 and was buried in his cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velde, Jan Frans 1779 births 1838 deaths Bishops of Ghent 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium People from Antwerp Province People from Boom, Belgium