Cardinal Mercier Square

Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier was the sixteenth Archbishop of Mechelen.

He became known for his courageous attitude towards the Germans in World War I. He declared in 1915: Belgium is the most proven and heroic country in the world. Dinant is the loftiest and bravest Belgian city in its cruel mourning. Dinant is now the largest city in the world.

His pastoral letters , which expressed the population's resistance to the German occupation, earned him great respect both in his own country and among his allies .

In January 1915, for example, his Christmas letter Patriotism and Unwavering Patience was read from many pulpits, telling the faithful that they owed the occupying power neither respect nor submission. Mercier was not supported by the episcopacy and narrowly escaped an arrest warrant from Moritz von Bissing. This did not prevent him from condemning the deportations of workers to Germany in 1916 . His reputation was very strong among Belgian patriots.

He was present in Dinant on August 23, 1919 at the commemorations of the tragic days of August 1914.

After 1918 he showed more interest in national unity , on the basis of which he opposed the demands of the Flemish movement and, among other things, spoke out strongly against the Dutchization of education in Flanders , and in particular the university system. Therefore he had a very difficult relationship with the leaders of the Flemish movement. Mercier had no fundamental objections to Dutch, but nevertheless remained convinced of the intellectual superiority of French as a language of culture and science.

On February 27, 1934, the College of Aldermen proclaimed Place de Leffe Cardinal Mercier, in memory of his patriotic commitment and his visit to the city on August 23, 1919.

He became a priest in 1874 and received his doctorate in theology in 1877 and was appointed professor of philosophy at the Mechelen seminary. At the request and with the support of Pope Leo XIII. he introduced in Belgium the renewed philosophical teaching of St. Thomas, which was to serve as a model for Catholic philosophers. He founded the Higher Institute of Philosophy at the University of Louvain (1889).

Willem Vandenameele