Jacobus Wemmers (1598–1645) was a Carmelite friar who served as apostolic legate to Ethiopia, and briefly bore the title of Titular Bishop of Memphis (1645).[1]
Most Reverend Jacobus Wemmers | |
|---|---|
| Titular Bishop of Memphis | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| In office | 1645 |
| Successor | Francisco Suárez de Villegas |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 24 April 1645 by Jerónimo Domín Funes |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 October 1598 |
| Died | 21 August 1645 (aged 46) Naples, Kingdom of Naples |
Biography
editJacobus Wemmers was born in Antwerp, Duchy of Brabant (now Belgium), on 21 October 1598, the son of Gisbert Wemmers and Marie Hanotel.[2] He entered the Carmelite Order on 22 September 1616, and made his vows on 25 of September the following year. He showed a love of learning, and obtained a doctorate in theology.[3]
On 3 May 1640 Pope Urban VIII appointed him apostolic legate to Ethiopia, with faculties to use the Ethiopian liturgical rite.[4]
He was appointed Titular Bishop of Memphis on 24 April 1645, in the pontificate of Pope Innocent X, and on 5 June was consecrated bishop by Jerónimo Domín Funes, Bishop of Gaeta, with Placido Padiglia, Bishop of Alessano, and Francesco de' Notari, Bishop of Lavello, serving as co-consecrators.[5]
He died in Naples on 21 August 1645 ("the 12th of the calends of September"), while en route to Ethiopia.[2] He was buried in Santa Maria del Carmine, Naples, with an epitaph reading
D.O.M. Illustrissimus ac Reverendissimus Dom Fr. Jacobus Wemmers, Antverpiensis Carmelita, Mempheos Episcopus, scientiis, moribusque præclarus: gregem ardens maximè, ardores minimi facit æstivos: pro Ægypto cælum appellit: & qui Ecclesiæ multa scripsit, huic Ecclesiæ adscripsit ossa XII. kalendas septembris, anno Domini M.DC.XLV.
Works
edit- Lexicon Aethiopicum (Rome, Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 1638).[6]
References
edit- ^ Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Vol IV (in Latin). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. p. 239.
- ^ a b Jean-Noël Paquot, Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire littéraire des dix-sept provinces des Pays-Bas, de la principauté de Liège, et de quelques contrées voisines, vol. 5 (Leuven, University Press, 1765), pp. 230-232.
- ^ Descriptions historiques, chronologique et géographique du duché de Brabant (Brussels, 1756), p. 251.
- ^ New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, vol. 5 (2003), p. 404.
- ^ Cheney, David M. "Bishop Jacobus Wemmers, O. Carm". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. [self-published]
- ^ On Google Books.
External links and additional sources
edit- Cheney, David M. "Memphis (Titular See)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. (for Chronology of Bishops) [self-published]
- Chow, Gabriel. "Titular Episcopal See of Memphis (Egypt)". GCatholic.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. (for Chronology of Bishops) [self-published]
