Paul Van den Berghe

Paul Van den Berghe is a Belgian Catholic retired prelate who served as Bishop of Antwerp from 1980 to 2008

Biography

Van den Berghe obtained a degree in Thomist philosophy and was ordained a priest on 15 June 1957. He then earned a doctorate in theology in 1961 and became professor of exegesis at a seminary in Ghent, where he was one of the founders was the Hoger Instituut voor Godsdienstwetenschappen. He served as the editorial secretary of Collationes, a Flemish magazine of pastoral theology, and wrote numerous articles on the exegesis of the New Testament.
On 3 July 1980 he was appointed the 21st Bishop of Antwerp by Pope John Paul II and consecrated on 7 September 1980. His motto, chosen from a verse in the book of Galatians is: "Libertati liberavit nos". In the Belgian bishops' conference he was responsible for the Interdiocesaan Pastoraal Beraad.
In 2008, he had reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 and on 28 October 2008 he was succeeded by Bishop Johan Bonny.