Franciscus Jozef Maria (Frans) Wiertz (December 2, 1942) is a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. He was

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Roermond Roermond (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received City rights i ...

from 1993 until 2017.

Early life

Born in

Kerkrade Kerkrade (; Kerkrade dialect, Ripuarian: ; ; or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the P ...

as the oldest in a family of nine, Wiertz studied at the

Minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

Rolduc Rolduc is a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a ''rijksmonument'' (Dutch national herit ...

, from where he graduated in 1961, having passed his state examinations. He studied history for a year at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

, before starting his studies to become a priest in 1962 in

and

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

. He studied at the seminary in

starting in 1964.

Priesthood

Wiertz was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

on September 23, 1967, and ordained to the priesthood on March 30, 1968, by Petrus Moors, bishop of

. He worked as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

at the saints

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Schaesberg Schaesberg (; ) is a neighbourhood of Landgraaf and former village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. History The village was first mentioned in 16th century as Gaesberg. The etymology is unknown. Schaesberg ...

, before being asked to build a church and to start a new parish for the new neighbourhood ''De Heeg'' in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

in 1977; the saints Monulph and Gondulph parish. In 1981 he was installed there as priest, which he would remain until 1985, when he became

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

Hoensbroek Hoensbroek () is a Dutch town in the municipality of Heerlen. It is situated in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is kno ...

and priest of the saint

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

parish in Hoensbroek. In 1991 he became dean of the deanery of

, succeeding

Jos Punt Jozef Marianus "Jos" Punt (born 10 January 1946) was the Roman Catholic bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2020. Early life Joseph Marianus Punt was born on 10 January 1946 in Alkmaar, North Holland, Netherlands. In his ...

, the later bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, and also became priest of the saint Pancras parish in Heerlen. In that same year he was also named a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the Roermond

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

, of which he became chairman in 1992.

Bishop of Roermond

In 1993 bishop

Joannes Gijsen Joannes Baptist Matthijs Gijsen (October 7, 1932 – June 24, 2013) was a Dutch bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. After being Bishop (emeritus) of Roermond, Limburg, the Netherlands, he became Bishop (emeritus) of the Diocese of Reykjavík (I ...

of Roermond stepped down due to declining health. On July 10, 1993, Wiertz was appointed bishop of

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on September 25 of that year, from Adrianus Johannes Cardinal Simonis, archbishop of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, with the bishop of

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

, Joannes Gerardus ter Schure, and the auxiliary bishop of Roermond, Alphonsus Maria Henricus Antonius Castermans, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. He chose the motto ''Geef, Heer, liefde en geloof aan uw Kerk'' (English: Give, Lord, love and faith to your Church). As a bishop he was principal consecrator of bishop Everardus Johannes de Jong, and principal co-consecrator of bishops Jozef Marianus Punt,

Antonius Lambertus Maria Hurkmans Antonius Lambertus Maria Hurkmans (born 3 August 1944) is Bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch. His motto is: ''Sancti Spiritus In virtute'' (The power of the Holy Spirit). Early years and calling to the priesthood ...

, Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, Johannes Wilhelmus Maria Liesen and Robertus Gerardus Leonia Maria Mutsaerts. Wiertz was vice-chairman of the Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands, in charge of communications and media.

Sexual abuse

In 2014 two complaints against Wiertz's predecessor in the diocese of Roermond,

, for sexual abuse dating from the period 1958–1961, were deemed valid by the complaints commission of the Catholic Church. The determination that complaints were valid was the first time against a Dutch bishop. Wiertz apologized for Gijsen's behaviour. In the late 2010s it became known to the public that Wiertz had appointed two pastors who were known to Wiertz to have a history of abusing youngsters. One of the pastors repeated his offences, for which he was transferred to another parish.Ook in Nederland hielden bisschoppen en kardinalen misbruik in stand
NRC, 14 september 2018

Retirement

On 2 December 2017 Wiertz retired as bishop of Roermond upon reaching the age of 75 years, the retirement age for priests, stating that increasing loss of eyesight was limiting his work. The

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

made three unanimous suggestions to the nuntius to fill the vacancy, which were rejected. This was followed by a vacancy of a year, during which

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

Hub Schnackers acted as

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

. On 8 December 2018

Harrie Smeets Hendrikus Marie Gerardus 'Harrie' Smeets (22 October 1960 – 20 December 2023) was a Dutch Roman Catholic prelate who was bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond, Roermond from 2018 to 2023. He died of a brain tumor on 20 December 2023, ...

, dean of the deanery of Venray and a member of the cathedral chapter, was appointed bishop of Roermond. After his retirement Wiertz settled in

and remains part of the administration of the diocese of Roermond as bishop emeritus.Administration
website of the diocese of Roermond, reviewed on 1 April 2019

References

External links

Biography of Frans Wiertz
on the website of the diocese of Roermond

at

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiertz, Frans 1942 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands People from Kerkrade Bishops of Roermond