Arthur Luysterman (born 18 March 1932) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

Roman Catholic Bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy orders in the Catholic Church, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teachin ...

. He served as the twenty-ninth

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 ...

between 1991 and 2003.

Life

Arthur Luysterman was born in

Meerbeke Meerbeke is a village in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Ninove. This rural community is located along the Dender River on the western border of what is known as "Pajo ...

, a village in the intensively developed countryside between

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) 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 the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. He was the eldest of his parents' four children. He attended school locally, obtaining a grounding in Graeco-Latin

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

at the St Aloysius College in

Ninove Ninove () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flanders, Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city o ...

and Our Lady's College,

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; , ) is a city in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders in Belgium. The Municipalities of Belgium, municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, M ...

before abandoning an earlier ambition to become a lawyer and entering the seminary of

in 1950: he was ordained into the priesthood on 26 August 1956. He received a degrees and a doctorate in

Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1959. After this he joined the military seminary in Aalst the produced military chaplains (''"Centre d’Instruction de Base"'' / CIBE), initially as Professor of

Moral Theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics" A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfyin ...

and later with more general responsibilities. However, over the years the number of candidates coming forward for training reduced, and in the end the institution was closed. After this, on 1 February 1973 he became chief chaplain to the Belgian armed forces, a post he retained till 13 July 1990. On 13 July 1990 (a Friday)

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Luysterman

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

. He was consecrated a bishop by

Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem (7 October 1916 – 7 January 2004) was a Belgium, Belgian Bishop, Roman Catholic Bishop. He served as the twenty-eighth Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Ghent, Ghent between 1964 and 1991: it was an unusually lon ...

, the Bishop of Ghent, on 21 October of the same year. Just over a year later, when Van Peteghem retired on 27 December 1991, Luysterman succeeded him. He took as his episcopal motto "Et in terra pax" (''"and Peace on Earth"''). He was the founder of the Fund for Church Buildings in the Diocese of Ghent. During his time the number of seminarians declined and the episcopal seminary was closed, but he insisted that the quality of candidates for ordination was more important than their quantity. On 28 August 1994 he was a principal co-consecrator of the Flemish born Bishop

André de Witte André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal, ...

as bishop of Ruy Barbosa, Bahia in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. On 11 October 2003 he was principal consecrator for Cardinal Joos. After reaching the age of 70, Arthur Luysterman offered his resignation to

the pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

. This was accepted on 19 December 2003. Since then, as an emeritus bishop, he has nevertheless continued as a member of the Belgian Bishops' Conference.

References

20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic theologians Bishops of Ghent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium People from East Flanders 1932 births Living people Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II {{Belgium-RC-bishop-stub