Victor-Auguste-Isidore Dechamps
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His Eminence Victor-Auguste-Isidore Dechamps |
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| Cardinal, Archbishop of Mechelen Primate of Belgium |
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| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Mechelen |
| Appointed | 20 December 1867 |
| In office | 1867-1883 |
| Predecessor | Engelbert Sterckx |
| Successor | Pierre-Lambert Goossens |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Priest of San Bernardo alle Terme |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 20 December 1834 by Engelbert Sterckx |
| Consecration | 1 October 1865 by Karl-August von Reisach |
| Created Cardinal | 15 March 1875 by Pius IX |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 December 1810 Melle, Belgium |
| Died | 29 September 1883 (aged 72) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Previous post | Bishop of Namur (1865-1867) |
Victor Augustin Isidore Dechamps (6 December 1810, in Melle – 29 September 1883, in Mechelen) was a Belgian Archbishop of Mechlin, Cardinal and Primate of Belgium.
He and his brothers made rapid progress in science under their father's direction. One, Adolphe Deschamps, entered on a political career. Victor pursued his ecclesiastical studies first at the seminary of Tournai and then in the Catholic University begun at Mechlin and afterwards transferred to Louvain.
Ordained priest 20 December 1834, he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1835, and made his vows 13 June 1836. The next four years he spent at Wittem as prefect of students and lector in dogmatic theology. In 1840 he began his missionary life and in 1842 was nominated rector at Liège. He took an active part in the founding of the Confraternity of the Holy Family, which he considered his most salutary work. In the historic jubilee of Liège he had a large share both by his "Le plus beau souvenir de l'histoire de Liège", and by his preaching (1845–46).
He visited England and saw the effects of the Tractarian movement. In 1849 he was nominated consultor general of his congregation, and took up his residence at Pagani near Naples just when Pope Pius IX was in exile at Gaeta. He had several audiences with the pope and was instrumental in arranging the transfer of the superior general from Pagani to Rome. This was not effected till 1855, when Pius IX invited Father Dechamps to the first general chapter held in Rome. The question of his appointment to the See of Liège was considered in 1852, but the pope, touched by his personal appeal, did not insist. In 1865 Dechamps became Bishop of Namur, whence he was transferred in 1875 to the Archdiocese of Mechlin and made primate.
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