Désiré Félicien François Joseph Mercier (1851–1926) was a Belgian educator, cardinal, and influential proponent of St. Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy during the 19th-century revival.
Born in Braine-l’Alleud, he was ordained in 1874 and soon embarked on a teaching career at the seminary of Malines (1877–82.) In response to Pope Leo XIII’s 1880 request for a Thomistic program at the Catholic University of Leuven, he was appointed professor in 1882. His lectures, demonstrating the relevance of Aquinas’s ideas to modern philosophy and science, attracted students from around the world.
Mercier’s commitment to Thomistic scholarship led him, with papal support, to found the Superior Institute of Philosophy at Leuven in 1894, where he served as its first president. Under his guidance, the institute evolved into a leading center of Thomistic thought and published the influential journal Revue Néoscolastique (now Revue Philosophique de Louvain.) His academic achievements were paralleled by his ecclesiastical ascent, as Pope St. Pius X named him archbishop of Malines in 1906 and cardinal in 1907.
During World War I, Mercier became an international advocate for Belgium, opposing German atrocities, including the burning of the Leuven Library and the deportation of workers. His 1919 tour of the United States and Canada, under President Woodrow Wilson’s invitation, procured honors and funds to restore the library. His published works include A Manual of Modern Scholastic Philosophy (various editions) and Les origines de la psychologie contemporaine (1897; Origins of Contemporary Psychology, 1918.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Desire-Joseph Mercier
We must not only give what we have; we must also give what we are.
—Desire-Joseph Mercier
We must not give only what we have; we must give what we are.
—Desire-Joseph Mercier
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Leave a Reply