Joseph Laurent Philippe
S.C.I. (3 April 1877 – 21 October 1956) was Bishop of Luxembourg from 1935 to 1956.
Life
Born in
Rollingergrund in 1877, Joseph Laurent Philippe was ordained a priest on 28 May 1904.
[Bishop Joseph Laurent Philippe, S.C.I.]
catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 17 October 2013. On 20 January 1926 he was made
Superior general
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...
of the
Priests of the Sacred Heart.
On 25 April 1935,
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...
appointed him
titular bishop
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 ...
of
Tinum and
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 ...
of Luxembourg.
His consecration took place on 9 June in Rome, by
Francesco Cardinal Marchetti Selvaggiani.
On 9 September 1935 he became Bishop of Luxembourg, succeeding
Pierre Nommesch, who died in office. As Bishop, he argued for a revival of the
Spiritual Exercises, and of religious traditions.
He was also the first of the Bishops of Luxembourg to live in the ''Avenue Marie-Thérèse'', on the land of the old Fort Maria Rheinsheim (part of the
Fortress of Luxembourg
The Fortress of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: ''Festung Lëtzebuerg''; French: ''Forteresse de Luxembourg''; German: ''Festung Luxemburg'') is the former fortifications of Luxembourg City, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which were ...
), where his successor would build the episcopal palace of today in 1957.
[Schmitt, Michel]
"Die Stadt Luxemburg als Bischofssitz".
(in German) ''Ons Stad'', No. 36, 1991. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
His time in office saw the expansion of the cathedral from 1935 to 1938 and the
German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II. A third of the churches and chapels in the diocese were destroyed in the war, especially from 1944 to 1945. Personally, Philippe did not confront the German occupiers, so as not to endanger religious and the activity of the church, which could already only exercise its functions to a limited extent.
However, he avoided all contact with the German authorities, and made preparations in case the diocese became leaderless.
The church was progressively forced out of public life by the German authorities; Christian organisations were forcibly dissolved, religious education was banned from the schools, the monasteries were abolished, and active religious communities were deprived of their property.
The diocesan administration, on the other hand, remained the only intact Luxembourgish institution during World War II.
[Hellinghausen, Georges]
"Joseph Philippe (1935-1956)"
(in German). Catholic Church in Luxembourg. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
After the liberation of Luxembourg, Philippe set out rebuilding the church institutions.
From 14 May 1949, he was assisted by a coadjutor bishop, in the form of
Léon Lommel.
He died in Luxembourg city in 1956, and was succeeded by Lommel.
References
External links
"Joseph Philippe (1935-1956)", biography on the Catholic Church in Luxembourg's website(German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippe, Joseph Laurent
1877 births
1956 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Luxembourg
Dehonian bishops