Jozef De Kesel was born in Ghent, Belgium, on 17 June 1947. He studied at Leuven and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, taking his doctorate with a dissertation on Rudolf Bultmann's theology of the historical Jesus. He was ordained a priest on 26 August 1972 — by his uncle, Auxiliary Bishop Leo-Karel De Kesel — and taught fundamental theology and Christology at Ghent and Leuven.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Mechelen-Brussels in 2002, then Bishop of Bruges on 25 June 2010, taking over a diocese shaken by the resignation of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe over abuse. On 6 November 2015 Pope Francis appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Military Ordinary of Belgium; from January 2016 he presided over the Belgian bishops. Francis created him a cardinal on 19 November 2016, with the title of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Francis accepted his resignation on 22 June 2023.
Consequential Quotes
We must accept wholeheartedly the culture in which we have to accomplish our mission: a pluralistic society, a secularized society. It is a profound conviction in me. This culture is also an opportunity, a grace for the Church.
I do not want to hold an anti-modern discourse. It's our society; it's in this society that we are called to accomplish our mission.
Europe is in crisis and it is also a “spiritual” crisis. It's not simply a Common Market.
We live in a democratic society, there are laws; it is not the Gospel, or the Sharia or the Torah that decide the law. But the Church is there and takes part in society's debate.
Major Works & Initiatives
Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels
Primate of Belgium through the post-Danneels transition.
Bishop of Bruges
Steadied the diocese after the Vangheluwe scandal.
President of the Belgian Bishops' Conference
Led Belgium's bishops, including the 2022 blessings initiative.
Foi et religion dans une société moderne
His book-length synthesis (Salvator, Paris) on faith and the Church's mission in a secularized society.
Controversies
The Flemish blessings (2022)
As conference president, De Kesel led the Flemish bishops in publishing a liturgy for blessing same-sex couples in September 2022 — a step beyond anything then authorised in Rome, later partly overtaken by the Vatican's Fiducia supplicans. He remarked after the bishops' ad limina visit that “the atmosphere has changed” at the Vatican.
Abuse-case criticism
Belgian commentators have criticised De Kesel's handling, as a diocesan bishop, of several sexual abuse cases — scrutiny his tenure in Bruges, succeeding a bishop who had himself abused a minor, made unavoidable.