Karel Justinus Calewaert

Karel Justinus Calewaert (17 October 1893 – 27 December 1963) was a Belgian Roman Catholic bishop.[1][2]

Karel Justinus Calewaert Charles-Justin Calewaert
Mgr. Calewaert, before bishop.
Born	(1893-10-17)17 October 1893 Deinze, East Flanders, Belgium
Died	12 March 1963(1963-03-12) (aged 69) Ghent / Gand, East Flanders, Belgium
Alma mater	Catholic University of Leuven / Louvain
Occupation	Priest Bishop
Predecessor	Honoré Jozef Coppieters
Successor	Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem

Life

Early years

Calevaert was born in Deinze,[3] a small town a short distance to the southwest of Ghent. His father, also named Justinus Calewaert, was a successful businessman,[4] with premises in the Tolpportstraat, who also ran a distillery.[2] When war broke out in 1914 Calevaert went initially to England, but he later returned to Belgium and served as a stretcher bearer on the front line.[2]

He studied at St Hendrik's College in Deinze and at the St Barbara College, a Jesuit school in Ghent, before moving on to the Catholic University of Louvain.[2] He was ordained into the priesthood on 23 April 1922.[4]

Priest

On 4 February 1925 he took a post as professor of Moral theology at the "CIBE"[5] (military academy) in Leopoldsburg, becoming director at this institution in 1927.[6] On 1 October 1931 he was appointed president of the Main Seminary at Ghent, and in 1940 he became Vicar general for the diocese. In the context of the linguistic sensitivities of the time and place, the Ghent born composer Ignace de Sutter observed that Calewaert appeared to come from the Francophone class ("....les gens d'expression française"), although since he came from Deinze he also spoke perfectly good Flemish (Dutch).[6]

Bishop

On 28 January 1948 Calewaert was appointed 27th Bishop of Ghent in succession to Honoré Jozef Coppieters who had died the previous month. Calewaert, now aged 54, was installed on 8 March 1948. He took as his motto "Caritate veritatis" ("From Love of Truth").[6]

On 17 April 1948 Oscar Joliet was appointed as Calewaert's auxiliary bishop.

In 1950 he dedicated the St Paul Seminary at Mariakerke in the chateau bequeathed by the aristocrat-politician Amand Casier de ter Beken, where seminarians could undertake the first two years of their training. On 16 May 1954 he dedicated the entire complex at Mariagrot van Maldegem-Kleit.[7]

During the 1955 schools conflict he wrote, on 8 July 1955, a pastoral letter calling on the faithful to support free education through the "School and family" programme, in respect of which a commemorative plaque was produced in 1958. Also in 1955, on 19 December 1955, it fell to Caelwaert to dedicate the important Temse Bridge at Themse when it was opened by The King.

Karel Justinus Calewaert died on 12 March 1963, a couple of months after his 70th birthday. His body was buried in the crypt of his cathedral, St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent.

See also

• Catholic Church in Belgium

References

1. Ombeline Labitte. "Palais épiscopal de Gand". LexiDepot. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
2. Eddy Lefevre; et al. (3 October 2010). "Bisschop Calewaert, een beroemde Deinzenaar". Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
3. David Conway (contributor) (11 March 2001). "transcription from his grave". Find a Grave. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
4. Willy Jonckheere (December 2013). "In memoriam Mgr. Karel Justinus Calewaert" (PDF). Kring voor Geschiedenis en Kunst van Deinze en de Leiestreek (KGK). pp. 4452–4453. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
5. CIBE = Centre d'Instruction de Base et d'Ecolage
6. "Bisschop Calewaert, een beroemde Deinzenaar: Een zijstraatje van Hulhaege, in het centrum van Deinze, heet 'Bisschop Calewaertstraat'. Wie was deze bisschop Calewaert?". Sint-Hendrikscollege. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
7. "Welkom: Reeds meer dan 60 jaar kan de parochie Kleit trots zijn op haar drukbezochte, maar toch rustig gelegen Lourdesgrot. Het ganse complex werd bijna volledig gebouwd met ..." (in Dutch). Remi Van den Saffele i.A. de Mariagrot. Retrieved 11 September 2015.