Jacques Clemens (11 July 1909 – 7 March 2018) was a Dutch

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

. He was the

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of The Bultia (

Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes had a total population of 13,529. The land area is , which gives a population density Populatio ...

, Belgium) from 1958. Between 2016 and his death on 7 March 2018, at the age of 108 he was thought to be the oldest living priest.

Biography

Early life

Jacques Clemens was born on 11 July 1909 in The Hague, Netherlands. After his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

and studies in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, he studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the Diocesan Seminary of Liège and was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Liège Cathedral Liège Cathedral, otherwise St. Paul's Cathedral (), is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic cathedral in Liège, Belgium. Founded in the 10th century, it was rebuilt from the 13th to the 15th century and restored in the mid-19th century. It became ...

on 5 July 1936.

Career

He was a teacher at the

Seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...

Gerpinnes Gerpinnes (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 the municipality had 12,660 inhabitants. The total area is 47.10 km2, giving a population density Population density (in agricu ...

(now St. Augustine College). In 1944 Clemens was appointed

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

(south of

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

) and

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 Bultia, a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the village without its own place of worship. The Church of Saint-Benoît was completed in 1957 and on 1 January 1958 Clemens officially became the first

of the new

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 ...

, remaining there for 67 years.

Later life

Clemens's health deteriorated following a fall at the age of 102 and he decided to reduce his activities. He retired in 2015 but continued to provide religious services on Sundays. He celebrated his 108th birthday on 11 July 2017, dying at that age by March 7, 2018.

References

1909 births 2018 deaths Dutch men centenarians Dutch expatriates in Belgium 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests Clergy from The Hague {{RC-clergy-stub