GHENT
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GHENT
was bounded on the north by the western arm of that
river, on the east by the new Dioceses of Antwerp and
Mechlin, detached from Cambrai, on the south by
Tournai, and on the west by tlie new Diocese of
Bruges ("Ex injuncto", Pius IV, 1560, and " llegimini
universalis Ecclesia; " especially for Ghent, 7 August ,
Church of Saint-Jacques, Ghent
1561). Previous to this Charles V had obtained from Paul III the secularization of the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Bavon, at Ghent (22 July, 1536), and in 1541 they transferred their chapter from the ancient abbey to the parochial church of St. John the Baptist, which henceforth bore the name of Saint-Bavon. In 1559 it was decided that this chapter should become that of the cathedral, and that at the death of Viglius, then mitred provost of said chapter, the revenues of the abbacy, or provostship, should become the episcopal revenues.
After the concordat between Pius VII and the First Consul, Bonaparte (see Concordat of 1801), the pope called upon all the bishops of France to re- sign their sees. Prince de Lobkowitz, the Bishop of Ghent, had died at Munster in 1795 and had not been replaced. By the Bull "Qui Christi Domini" (29 November, 1801), Pius VII suppressed all the ancient dioceses throughout the French Republic, and erected sixty new dioceses, among which he re-established that of Ghent, comprising the two departments of Escaut and Lys, i. e. the three ancient dioceses of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres, to which was added a portion of Mechlin and Dutch Flanders. Gregory XVI detached the part appertaining to Holland (25 August, 1832), and by the erection of the See of Bruges (27 May, 1834), determined the present jurisdiction of the Dio- cese of Ghent. Ghent has had twenty-four bishops, of whom the last is Mgr Antoine Stillemans, conse- crated 27 January, 1890. Among them, Cornelius Jansenius and Antoine Triest are deserving of more special notice.
The former, who must not be confounded with Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, the author of the " Au- gustinus", was professor of theology at Louvain when Philip II sent him as his representative to the Council of Trent. On his return to Flanc_lers, he was named by the king first Bishop of Ghent, in 1568, and this nomination was confirmed by Pius IV on 6 July of the same year. His numerous and learned com- mentaries on the Holy Scriptures reveal in him an exegete of great merit. The seventh bishop, Antoine Triest, occupied the see from 1622 to 1657. He was a veritable Maecenas and the cathedral of Saint-Bavon is indebted to him for most of the masterpieces which adorn it. His generosity towards the poor found ex- pression in important charitable foundations and in the zeal which he displayed in the establishment at Ghent of the Mont de Pi^t^, an institution founded to lend to the poor without interest. Bishop Triest be- queathed considerable sums to this work.
In 1813, during the episcopate of the Prince de
Broglie (1807-1821), the seminarians of Ghent offered
an heroic resistance to the despotism of Napoleon.
The emperor held the bishop prisoner and twice
sought to wrest from him his resignation. He under-
took to name a successor, and sent as Bishop of (ihent
a canon of Dijon, M. de la Brue de Saint-Bauzille, but
all the clergy, with the exception of thirty out of a
thousand priests, refused to recognize him. Being
called upon to submit to the intruder, the seminarians
opposed an energetic refusal, were compelled to enter
the imperial regiments, and were taken, some to
Wesel, the others to Paris. Many subsequently died
at Wesel as a result of contagious diseases and priva-
tions of every sort, but all remained faithful to their
motto; "Rather soldiers than schismatics".
During the episcopate of Mgr Delebecque (1S3S-64) nine American bishops sent two of their colleagues to ask priests from the Diocese of Ghent, intending to place under their direction and instruct ion the seminary which they proposed to found at Troy, New York. Mgr Delebecque acceded to this request, and in the month of .\ugust, 1864, MM. van den Hende, Gabriels (now Bishop of Ogdensburg), Roelants, and Puissant embarked for America. The Diocese of Ghent con- tinued its collaboration in the seminary at Troy until July, 1896. It was also at Ghent and under the aus- pices of Mgr Delebecque that the work was founded, in 1859, which is now known as le Denier de Saint Pierre, i. e. Peter's Pence.
Among the clergy of Ghent Jean-Frangois Van de Velde (1743-1823) is most deserving of notice. While he acquired a well-merited reputation as professor of Holy Scripture at the University of Louvain, and his puljlished and manuscript works place him in the front rank of the theologians of his time, he is chiefly en- titled to notice for the important part which he played in the religious affairs of his country, first, under Joseph II, by his intrepid opposition to the decrees with regard to marriage (1784), and later, under Napoleon, by his decisive intervention at the national council, which
the emperor as-
sembled at Paris in 1811, and where, as the counsellor of Mgr de Broglie, he presented a "Me moire sur I'incomp^tence du concile national a changer la disci- pline de I'Eglise, en vertu de laquelle le Pape seul donne rin.stitution can- onique aux 6ve- ques nonim^s" ( M e m o r a n d u m concerning the incompetency of the national coun- cil to alterthedis- c i p 1 i n e of the Church, in virtue of which the pope alone confers canonical institu- tion on the nomi- nated bishops).
One who was well entitled to be called " the Vincent de Paul of Belgium " also deserves mention. The inex- haustible charity of Canon Pierre- Joseph Triest (1760- 1836) was extended to all human miseries, and for their more efficacious relief he founded in succession the Sisters of Charity (1803), the Brothers of Charity (1807), the " Association of Maternal Charity" (1822), the Brothers of St. John of God (1825), and the Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus (1835).
