Cardinal suenens biography
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Suenens, Leon-Joseph
Ecumenist and cardinal archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium; b. Brussels, July 16, 1904; d. Brussels, May 6, 1996; studied at the Gregorian University in Rome (1921–1929) and was ordained a priest for the Mechelen (Malines) archdiocese in 1927.
In 1930 Suenens was appointed professor of philosophy at the seminary of Mechelen and then vice-rector of the Catholic University of Louvain in 1940, and in 1945 he became auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Van Roey, whom he succeeded as archbishop of Mechelen and primate of Belgium (1961). Suenens was responsible for the division that resulted in the creation of the new diocese of Antwerp. Pope John XXIII named him a cardinal in 1962, and soon after a member of the Central Commission for Vatican II. Suenens then presented the pope an outline of the themes he felt had to be dealt with at the council. This outline was endorsed by Pope John and warmly supported by a number of influential cardinals, including G.B. Montini, the future Pope Paul VI. There is no doubt that it decisively influenced the further proceedings of Vatican II.
Vatican II. Pope Paul VI appointed Suenens as one of the four moderators who guided the proceedings of the Council. His three main interventions promoted the ideas of a permanent
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Leo Joseph Suenens
Catholic cardinal
Leo Jozef Suenens (SOO-nens) (16 July 1904 – 6 May 1996) was a Belgian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1961 to 1979. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962.
Suenens was a leading voice at the Second Vatican Council advocating for reform in the Church.
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Leo Suenens was born at Ixelles, the only child of Jean-Baptiste and Jeanne (née Janssens) Suenens. He was baptised by his uncle, who was a priest. Losing his father (who had owned a restaurant)[1] at age four, Leo lived with his mother in the rectory of his priest-uncle from 1911 to 1912. Wealthy relatives wanted him to study economics and manage their fortune, but he chose the priesthood. He studied at Saint Mary's Institute in Schaerbeek and then entered the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1920. From the Gregorian he obtained a doctorate in theology and in philosophy (1927), and a master's degree in canon law (1929). Suenens had taken as his mentor Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, who had also sent him to Rome.
Priesthood
[edit]Ordained to the priesthood on 4 September 1927 by Cardinal Jozef-Ernest van Roey, Suenens initially served as a professor at Saint Mary's
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Cardinal Suenens
Cardinal Suenens (1904 – 1996)
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