Paulin Ladeuze

Paulin Ladeuze

Paulin Ladeuze (born July 3, 1870 in Harveng ; † February 9/10, 1940 in Leuven ) was a Belgian Catholic bishop , theologian , orientalist and professor . From 1909 until his death in 1940 he was the seventh rector of the Catholic University of Leuven .

Life

Ladeuze came from a Walloon farming family. He studied theology at the Catholic University of Leuven and then from 1898 taught there as a professor the subjects of patrology and exegesis of the New Testament . In 1900 he founded the magazine Revue d'histoire ecclésisastique together with Alfred Cauchie (1860-1922) and in 1921 was one of the co-founders of the Belgisch Genootschap voor Oosterse Studiën .

After Adolphe Hebbelynck (1859-1939), who had held the post of rector of the Catholic University of Leuven since 1898, resigned in the summer of 1909, Ladeuze succeeded him. His candidacy was supported by the bishops of Tournai , Bruges and Ghent , as well as by Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier , while the bishops of Namur and Liège had voted in favor of Laminne, professor of philosophy and theology, on the basis of Ladeuzes' progressive exegesis . In Rome there were reservations about Ladeuze, which extended to considerations about the revocation of the appointment. Mercier stood up personally for Ladeuze and pointed out that the appointment of the rector fell within the competence of the Belgian Bishops' Conference .

After his appointment as rector, Ladeuze put down his scientific work and concentrated entirely on the management of the Catholic University of Leuven, which he ran with great meticulousness. He was committed to the university as a center of scientific research and promoted the improvement of the equipment of the institutes and laboratories. In his rectorate, both the chemical laboratories were completely renovated, a physical institute was built, and a new building was built for the law and theological faculties in order to be able to expand the university library in the cloth hall. In addition, from 1911 onwards, on the initiative of Ladeuze, some courses were offered bilingual in each faculty, whereby the students were free to choose whether to attend the course in Dutch or French and in which language they wanted to take their exams.

The Catholic University of Leuven suffered badly during the First World War . The University Library of Leuven fell in flames on the night of August 25-26, 1914, when German troops burned the city of Leuven, which they had occupied, as reprisal for the appearance of irregular snipers at the beginning of the war. The university ceased operations during the war as an expression of resistance. As part of attempts by the German side to change this decision, Ladeuze was threatened with deportation in July 1916 .

As rector, Ladeuze performed his duties with great precision. He was known to work from 5 a.m. to midnight every day, spending most of his time in the office, studying the details of the university's duties. He seldom left Leuven. He is also referred to as the "second benefactor" of the university. On February 2, 1929, he was ordained titular bishop of Tiberias by Cardinal Jozef-Ernest Van Roey .

Ladeuze died on the night of February 9th to 10th, 1940. His successor as rector of the university was Honoré Van Waeyenbergh .

Works (selection)

• Étude sur le cénobitisme pakhômien pendant le IVe siècle et la première moitié du Ve . Fontemoing, Paris 1898.
• La résurrection du Christ devant la critique contemporaine . L'Action Catholique, Brussels 1907.
• Le Crime allemand contre l'Université de Louvain . Nova et vetera, Lions 1919.
• Centième Anniversaire de sa restoration . Lions 1935.

literature

• De Universiteit te Leuven. Universitaire Pers Leuven, Löwen 1976, ISBN 90-6186-034-2 , pp. 236-248.

Web links

• Entry on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Literature by and about Paulin Ladeuze in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)