- Jozef-Ernest van Roey
infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Jozef-Ernest Cardinal van Roey
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Mechelen |Jozef-Ernest Cardinal van Roey (
January 13 ,1874 —August 6 ,1961 ) was a Belgianprelate of theRoman Catholic Church . He served as Archbishop of Mechelen from 1926 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1927.Biography
Jozef-Ernest van Roey was born in
Vorselaar , as the first of the five children of Stanislas and Anna-Maria (née Bartholomeus) van Roey. His siblings were named Bernadette, Louis, Véronique, and Stephanie (who became anun ). He was baptized the same day of his birth in theparish church of Vorselaar. Roey studied under the Jesuits in Vorsselaer before enteringSaint-Joseph School inHerentals in 1885. He graduated in 1892, whence he entered theminor seminary inMechelen . From 1894 to 1897, he studiedtheology at the Major Seminary of Mechelen. He was ordained to the priesthood by Pierre-Lambert Cardinal Goossens onSeptember 18 ,1897 .Roey then furthered his studies at the University of Louvain, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology and the
habilitation in 1903. He taught at the "Collège Americaine" from 1901 to 1905, and at the University of Louvain from 1905 to 1907. During this time, Roey also became a friend ofColumba Marmion , OSB, who would later be beatified in 2000. OnMay 19 ,1907 , he was made an honorary canon of the metropolitan chapter of Mechelen. He served asvicar general of the city fromSeptember 30 ,1907 to 1925, and was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness onApril 2 ,1909 . Roey was participated in the Conversations of Mechelen, a series of ecumenical dialogue between clergymen from the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches hosted by Désiré Cardinal Mercier, from 1921 to 1926. He becamesecretary of the diocesansynod in 1924, and aprotonotary apostolic onFebruary 11 ,1925 .On
March 12 ,1926 , Roey was appointed Archbishop of Mechelen, and thus Primate, ofBelgium byPope Pius XI . He received his episcopal consecration on the followingApril 25 from Archbishop Clemente Micara, with BishopsGustave-Joseph Waffelaert andGaston-Antoine Rasneur serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Mechelen. Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of "S. Maria in Arac Coeli" in theconsistory ofJune 20 ,1927 . The Belgian primate served aspapal legate to the centennial celebration of the University of Louvain four days later, onJune 24 . In February 1931, he denouncedcremation , declaring, "That funeral honors should be paid to a cremated corpse is a defiance of Catholic conscience which objects to cremation...Any funeral is meaningless after destruction of the body by burning" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,741130,00.html Ashes]March 2 ,1931 ] .The Cardinal was heavily opposed to
Nazi Germany , and once said, "WithGermany we step many degrees downward and reach the lowest possible depths. We have a duty of conscience to combat and to strive for the defeat of these dangers...Reason and good sense both direct us towards confidence, towards resistance" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772854,00.html Prelates Against Hitler]December 15 ,1941 ] . In 1937, Roey condemnedRexism as "a danger to the country and the Church" and issued a precautionary condemnation of anyone who cast a blank ballot, much to the anger ofAdolf Hitler [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757614-2,00.html Roey v. Rex]April 19 ,1937 ] . Although some saw this as an unwarranted ecclesiastical entrance into the political sphere, the Cardinal defended himself by saying, "The hierarchic authority is perfectly entitled to pronounce on any political party or political movement in so far as that party or movement opposes religious well-being or the precepts of Christian morals" [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848036,00.html "Entitled to Pronounce"]April 4 ,1938 ] , a statement which earned the support of Pope Pius. Also known as the "Iron Bishop," he excommunicated members of theFlemish National Union followingWorld War II [TIME Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872705,00.html Milestones]August 18 ,1961 ] . He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave, and later participated in the conclave of 1958, which selectedPope John XXIII . Roey presided over the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Paola Margherita Consiglia Ruffo di Calabria onJuly 2 ,1959 , and of King Baudouin I and Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón onDecember 15 ,1960 . He protested against the abdication of King Leopold III in favor of his son, Badouin [Ibid.] .Roey, who had long suffered from a circulatory illness [Ibid.] , was administered the last rites and Communion by Bishop Leo Suenens on
August 5 ,1961 . At 6:05 a.m. on the next day, he died at the age of 87. After laying in state for three days in the archiepiscopal palace of Mechelen, his funeral Mass was held onAugust 10 , and was attended by King Leopold and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Prime MinisterThéo Lefèvre , the ministers of state, the entire Belgian episcopate, and Cardinals Francis Spellman and Bernardus Alfrink. Roey was then buried in thecrypt of the Cathedral of Mechelen, next to thevault of Engelbert Cardinal Sterckx, in accord with his explicit requests.References
External links
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-r.htm#Roey Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvanroey.html Catholic-Hierarchy]
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