Belgium
Cardinal Mercier
1851–1926 Archbishop of Mechelen and Primate of Belgium, 1906–1926
Désiré-Joseph Mercier was born in Braine-l'Alleud in 1851, ordained a priest in 1874 and held the chair of Thomist philosophy at the University of Leuven from 1882. He became Archbishop of Mechelen in February 1906 and a cardinal in 1907. In August 1914 he was in Rome for the funeral of Pius X and the conclave, and on his return he learned the full extent of the German invasion. His pastoral letter Patriotism and Endurance, issued at the turn of 1914–15, protested German cruelties against Belgian civilians while urging obedience to the occupiers in everything just. The authorities tried to suppress it and restricted his movements, but he refused to withdraw it. He remained a leading voice of resistance and died on 23 January 1926.