Jacobus Wemmers (1598–1645) was a

Carmelite friar , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

who served as

apostolic legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

to Ethiopia, and briefly bore the title of Titular Bishop of '' Memphis'' (1645).

Biography

Jacobus Wemmers was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Duchy of Brabant (now Belgium), on 21 October 1598, the son of Gisbert Wemmers and Marie Hanotel.

Jean-Noël Paquot Jean-Noël Paquot (1722–1803) was a Belgian theologian, historian, Hebrew scholar and bibliographer. Life Paquot was born in Florennes in 1722. In 1738 he enrolled at the University of Louvain, graduating Licentiate of Theology in 1751. Fro ...

, ''Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire littéraire des dix-sept provinces des Pays-Bas, de la principauté de Liège, et de quelques contrées voisines'', vol. 5 (Leuven, University Press, 1765), pp. 230-232. He entered the

Carmelite Order , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

on 22 September 1616, and made his vows on 25 of September the following year. He showed a love of learning, and obtained a doctorate in theology. On 3 May 1640

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

appointed him apostolic legate to Ethiopia, with faculties to use the Ethiopian liturgical rite. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Memphis on 24 April 1645, in the pontificate of Pope Innocent X, and on 5 June was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

bishop by Jerónimo Domín Funes,

Bishop of Gaeta The Archdiocese of Gaeta ( la, Archidioecesis Caietana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in southern Italy, in the city of Gaeta, in the Lazio region. The archbishop's cathedra is located in the C ...

, with

Placido Padiglia Placido Padiglia, O.S.B. Cel. (1579 – 14 June 1648) was a Roman Catholic priest and prelate whose career culminated in his service as the Bishop of the Italian dioceses of Lavello from 1627 to 1634, and Alessano, from 1634 to 1648 (prio ...

Bishop of Alessano The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alessano ( la, Dioecesis Alexanensis) was a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy, located in the city of Alessano, in the province of Lecce, part of Apulia region of south-east Italy. On 28 June 1818, it was suppressed to ...

, and

Francesco de' Notari Francesco de' Notari, O.M. (died 1652) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Lavello (1644–1652). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Francesco de' Notari was born in Naples, Italy, and ordained a priest in the Order of Minims. On 13 Ju ...

Bishop of Lavello The Diocese of Levello (Latin ''Dioecesis Lavellensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese in southern Italy, located in the city of Lavello, province of Potenza, in the region of Basilicata. In 1818, it was suppressed, and its territory and members ...

, 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 Churches, ...

. He died in Naples on 21 August 1645 ("the 12th of the calends of September"), while en route to Ethiopia. He was buried in

Santa Maria del Carmine, Naples Santa Maria del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) is a church in Naples, Italy. It is at one end of Piazza Mercato (Market Square), the centre of civic life in Naples for many centuries until it was cut off from the rest of the city by urban ...

, with an epitaph reading

D.O.M. Illustrissimus ac Reverendissimus Dom Fr. Jacobus Wemmers, Antverpiensis Carmelita, Mempheos Episcopus, scientiis, moribusque præclarus: gregem ardens maximè, ardores minimi facit æstivos: pro Ægypto cælum appellit: & qui Ecclesiæ multa scripsit, huic Ecclesiæ adscripsit ossa XII. kalendas septembris, anno Domini M.DC.XLV.

Works

* ''Lexicon Aethiopicum'' (Rome, Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 1638).On Google Books

References

External links and additional sources

* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wemmers, Jacobus 17th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Innocent X 1598 births 1645 deaths Carmelite bishops People from Antwerp