Henri Lemaître (1921 – 2003) was a Belgian prelate of the

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 ...

who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Biography

Henri Lemaître was born on 17 October 1921 in

Mortsel Mortsel () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel pr ...

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 ...

. He studied at the Major Seminary, Mechelen, and was ordained a priest on 28 July 1946. He completed the course of studies at the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

in 1946 and then entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. On 30 May 1969,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

named him

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Tongeren Tongeren (; ; ; ) is a city and former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the only Roman administrative capital wit ...

and Apostolic Delegate to Cambodia and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 20 July from Cardinal

Leo Joseph Suenens Leo Jozef Suenens ( ) (16 July 1904 – 6 May 1996) was a Belgian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1961 to 1979. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962. Suenens was a leading voice at the Second Vatican ...

, Archbishop of Mechelen. In Vietnam in the early 1970s, he assessed U.S. prospects for a military victory as unlikely based on his Catholic information sources. He was forced to leave the country upon the collapse of the American war effort in 1975. On 19 December 1975 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, where he served during the reign of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

and the

Uganda–Tanzania War The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: ''Vita vya Kagera'') and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugand ...

that ousted him. He resigned on 16 November 1981. On 31 October 1985,

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 ...

named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Scandinavia with responsibility for

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. On 28 March 1992 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He retired on 8 February 1997 upon the appointment of

Angelo Acerbi Angelo Acerbi (born 23 September 1925) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who has been an archbishop since 1974 and a cardinal since 2024. He served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See as the Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand, th ...

as his successor in the Netherlands. He died in Rome on 20 April 2003. He was buried in Wilrijk Steytelinck Communal Cemetery in

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaitre, Henri 1921 births 2003 deaths People from Mortsel Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Apostolic nuncios to the Netherlands Apostolic nuncios to Sweden Apostolic nuncios to Norway Apostolic nuncios to Iceland Apostolic nuncios to Finland Apostolic nuncios to Denmark Apostolic nuncios to Uganda Apostolic nuncios to Cambodia