Engelbert Sterckx (2 November 1792 – 4 December 1867) was the Archbishop of Mechelen, Belgium, from 1832 to 1867.
Life Engelbert (Engelbertus) Sterckx was born 2 November 1792 in Ophem, Brabant. His parents were farmers. He began his studies in Vilvoorde, after which he studied humanities at the college of Enghien (1805-1807). After secondary school in Leuven, he entered the Major Seminary, Mechelen, on 18 September 1811 and in 1813 was named subsecretary of the archdiocesan curia of Mechelen in 1813.Miranda, Salvador. "Sterckx, Engelbert", The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
Sterckx was ordained, with an age exemption, as priest for the Archdiocese of Mechelen, on 18 February 1815. He was vice-regent and professor of philosophy and moral theology at Mechelen from 1815 to 1821, when he was appointed pastor at Boechout. In 1824 he was appointed archpriest of the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp. In 1827, he was named vicar general to Archbishop Francis Anthony de Méan of Mechelen, and organized the opposition of the clergy to the religious policies of William I.
Belgian independence In 1830 the southern provinces seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established a constitutional monarchy. The people of the south were nearly all Catholic; half were French-speaking. Many outspoken liberals regarded King William I's rule as despotic. There were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes.E.H. Kossmann, The Low Countries 1780-1940 (1978) pp 151-54 The liberal faction began to support the Catholics, partly to accomplish its own goals: freedom of education and freedom of the press.E.H. Kossmann, De lage landen 1780/1980. Deel 1 1780-1914, 1986, Amsterdam, p. 129
Belgium became a separate ecclesiastical province with Mechelen as an archbishopric and the suffragan dioceses of Liège, Namur, Tournai, Bruges and Ghent.
Archbishop The new constitution guaranteed religious, educational and press freedom. Although not enthusiastic about all the provisions Sterckx decided they were tolerable. Not a profound thinker, Sterckx was a clever negotiator with a natural inclination to conciliatory pragmatism.Viaene, Vincent, Belgium and the Holy See from Gregory XVI to Pius IX (1831-1859), Universitaire Pers Leuven, 2001, p. 82 He became Archbishop on 24 February 1832, but his consecration was initially delayed by rumors against him of liberalism. In 1833 he baptised Louis-Philippe, Crown Prince of Belgium, the eldest son of Leopold I of the Belgians.
Archbishop Sterckx took full advantage of the new freedoms to completely reorganize his Archdiocese, establishing schools, colleges, monasteries, charities and minor seminaries in Hoogstraten and Waver."Englebert Sterckx", Das Portal zur katholischen Geisteswelt The University of Mechelen was mainly the work of Sterckx, and was a revival of the famous University of Leuven, which had been founded in 1425 and closed in 1797. Sterckx wrote to Pope Gregory XVI on 14 November 1833 regarding the proposed establishment of a Catholic university for Belgium, and Gregory replied to him and the other Belgian bishops on 13 December 1833 in a letter entitled Maiori certo, granting his approval. Gregory referred to the tradition of granting pontifical approval to the establishment of Catholic seats of learning.Holy See, Maiori certo (in Italian), issued on 13 December 1833, accessed on 13 January 2025 It opened in November 1834 and moved to Leuven in December 1835.
During the consistory of 13 September 1838, the Pope appointed him as a cardinal with the title of cardinal-priest of St. Bartholomew en l'Ile (San Bartolomeo all'Isola)."Miscellaneous Intelligence", The Dublin Review, Vol 5, (Nicholas Patrick Wiseman, ed.), London, Booker & Dolman, 1838, October, pp. 558-559 He did not participate in the conclave of 1846 at which Pope Pius IX was chosen.
In 1842, Sterckx issued a decree regarding plainsong and the following year established a commission to prepare a new edition of choral books. The Mechlin Gradual and Vesperal was published in 1848.Corney OSB, Wilfrid, "Gregorian Melodies in the Manuscripts and the Editions", The Dublin Review, Vol. 121, (W. Spooner, ed.) London, Burns & Oates Ltd., 1897, p.347
In 1857 an anticlerical Liberal government came to power under the leadership of Charles Rogier and later Walthère Frère-Orban. Sterckx strongly opposed all interference, such as the law on cemeteries of 1862. In 1863, 1864 and 1867 he hosted a series of influential Catholic Congresses in Mechelen with the aim of invigorating Catholic social, cultural and political engagement.M. Defourny, Les Congrès Catholiques en Belgique (Leuven, 1908) On Internet Archive.
Cardinal Sterckx died on 4 December 1867, in Mechelen, where his remains rest in the crypt of the archbishops in St. Rombout's Cathedral.
Honours Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold.Koophandel (De) 10-12-1867 Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Leopold.Bien Public (Le) 23-07-1862
See also Archbishopric of Mechelen-Brussels
References
Sources Engelbert Cardinal Sterckx