Liège (Luik, Lüttich) (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]

Bishop(s)

Jean-Pierre Delville, Bishop
Albert Jean Charles Ghislain Houssiau, Bishop Emeritus

General Information

Type of Jurisdiction: Diocese
Name Changed: 16 November 1925
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel {Malines-Brussels}
Depends on: Dicastery for Bishops
Rite: Latin (or Roman)
Country: Belgium
Square Kilometers: 3,862 (1,491 Square Miles)
Official Web Site: http://liege.diocese.be/
Mailing Address: 25 rue de l'Évêché, B-4000 Liege, Belgique
Telephone: (04)220.53.80

Historical Details

Diocese of Tongres (Tongeren)
- Latin Name: Tungrensis
- Erected: 344
- Country: Belgium
Diocese of Maastricht
- Name Changed: 384
- Country: Belgium
Diocese of Liège
- Latin Name: Leodiensis
- Name Changed: 720
- Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Mechelen
- Country: Belgium
Diocese of Liège, Eupen et Malmédy
- Latin Name: Leodiensis, Eupensis et Malmediensis
- Name Changed: 30 July 1921
- Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Mechelen
- Country: Belgium

Past and Present Ordinaries

Hilduin , O.S.B. † ( 920 Appointed - 921 Resigned)
Réginard † ( 1025 Appointed - 5 Dec 1037 Died)
Nithard † ( 1039 Appointed - 24 Aug 1042 Died)
Wazon † ( 1042 Appointed - 8 Jul 1048 Died)
Théoduin † (Jul 1048 Appointed - 23 Jun 1075 Died)
Henri de Verdun † ( 1075 Appointed - 31 May 1091 Died)
Otbert † ( 1092 Appointed - 8 Jul 1117 Died)
Frédéric de Namur † ( 1119 Appointed - 27 May 1121 Died)
Albéron di Lovanio † ( 1121 Appointed - )
Alexandre de Jülich † ( 1128 Appointed - 6 Jul 1135 Died)
Albéron de Namur † (22 Mar 1136 Appointed - 26 Mar 1145 Died)
Henri de Leez † ( 1145 Appointed - 4 Sep 1164 Died)
Alexandre Orree † ( 1165 Appointed - 9 Aug 1167 Died)
Raoul de Zähringen † ( 1167 Appointed - 5 Aug 1191 Died)
St. Albert de Louvain † (8 Sep 1191 Appointed - 24 Nov 1192 Died)
Albert Cuyck † (18 Sep 1194 Appointed - 1 Feb 1200 Died)
Hugo Pierrepont † (3 Mar 1200 Appointed - 12 Apr 1229 Died)
Jean d’Eppé de Rumigny † (17 Apr 1229 Appointed - 1 May 1238 Died)
Guillaume di Savoia † (4 Jun 1239 Appointed - 3 Oct 1239 Died)
Robert de Thourotte † (3 Aug 1240 Appointed - 16 Oct 1246 Died)
Henri de Geldern † (10 Oct 1247 Appointed - 3 Jul 1274 Resigned)
Jean d’Enghien † (28 Jul 1274 Appointed - 24 Aug 1281 Died)
Jean delle Fiandre † (9 Jun 1282 Appointed - 14 Oct 1292 Died)
Hugues de Chalons † (12 Dec 1295 Appointed - 11 Dec 1301 Appointed, Archbishop of Besançon)
Adolphe de Waldeck † (1 Sep 1301 Appointed - 12 Dec 1302 Died)
Thibaut de Bar † (13 Mar 1303 Appointed - 29 May 1312 Died)
Adolphe von der Mark † (16 Apr 1313 Appointed - 3 Nov 1344 Died)
Engelbert von der Mark † (25 Feb 1345 Appointed - 15 Apr 1364 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln {Cologne})
Jan d’Arkel † (15 Apr 1364 Appointed - 1 Jul 1378 Died)
Arnould de Hoorn, O.F.M. † (12 Jun 1378 Appointed - 8 Mar 1389 Died)
Eustachius Persand de Rochefort † (8 Nov 1378 Appointed - 1406 Died)
Thierry de La Marck † (5 Jun 1389 Appointed - 1390 Resigned)
Johannes von Bayern-Hennegau † (3 Mar 1390 Appointed - 28 May 1418 Resigned)
Thierry de Perwez † (18 Mar 1407 Appointed - )
Johann Walenrode † (30 May 1418 Appointed - 28 May 1419 Died)
Jean de Heinsberg † (20 Sep 1419 Appointed - 22 Oct 1455 Resigned)
Louis de Bourbon † (7 Apr 1455 Appointed - 30 Aug 1482 Died)
Jean Hornet (Hoerne) † (17 Dec 1483 Appointed - 19 Dec 1505 Died)
Erhard (Erardo, Everard) von der Mark (de la Marca, Marck) † (25 Feb 1506 Appointed - 27 Feb 1538 Died)
Corneille Van Berghen † (27 Feb 1538 Succeeded - 16 Aug 1544 Resigned)
Jorge de Austria † (16 Aug 1544 Succeeded - 5 May 1557 Died)
Robert de Berghes † (5 May 1557 Succeeded - 22 Jul 1563 Resigned)
Gerard van Groesbeeck † (23 Feb 1565 Confirmed - 23 Dec 1580 Died)
Ernst von Bayern † (3 Apr 1581 Confirmed - 17 Feb 1612 Died)
Ferdinand von Bayern † (17 Feb 1612 Succeeded - 13 Sep 1650 Died)
Max Heinrich von Bayern † (13 Sep 1650 Succeeded - 3 Jun 1688 Died)
Jean Louis (Johann Ludwig) d’Elderen † (15 Nov 1688 Confirmed - 1 Feb 1694 Died)
Joseph Clemens von Bayern von Wittelsbach † (29 Sep 1694 Confirmed - 12 Nov 1723 Died)
Georges Louis de Berghes † (27 Sep 1724 Confirmed - 4 Dec 1743 Died)
Johann Theodor von Bayern † (12 Feb 1744 Confirmed - 27 Jan 1763 Died)
Charles Nicolas Alexandre d’Oultremont † (4 May 1764 Confirmed - 22 Oct 1771 Died)
Franz Karl von Velbrück † (30 Mar 1772 Confirmed - 30 Apr 1784 Died)
César Constantin François de Hoensbroeck † (20 Sep 1784 Confirmed - 3 Jun 1792 Died)
François-Antoine-Marie-Constantin de Méan et de Beaurieux † (24 Sep 1792 Confirmed - 26 Nov 1801 Resigned)
Jean-Évangéliste Zäpfel (Zaepfell) † (3 Jun 1802 Confirmed - 17 Oct 1808 Died)
François Antoine Lejéas † (16 Nov 1811 Appointed - 1815 Resigned)
Cornelius Richard Antoon van Bommel † (18 May 1829 Appointed - 7 Apr 1852 Died)
Théodore Alexis Joseph de Montpellier † (27 Sep 1852 Appointed - 24 Aug 1879 Died)
Victor-Joseph Doutreloux † (24 Aug 1879 Succeeded - 24 Aug 1901 Died)
Martin-Hubert Rutten † (16 Dec 1901 Appointed - 17 Jul 1927 Died)
Louis-Joseph Kerkhofs † (17 Jul 1927 Succeeded - 7 Dec 1961 Retired)
Guillaume Marie van Zuylen † (7 Dec 1961 Succeeded - 17 Mar 1986 Retired)
Albert Jean Charles Ghislain Houssiau (17 Mar 1986 Appointed - 9 May 2001 Retired)
Aloys Jousten † (9 May 2001 Appointed - 31 May 2013 Retired)
Jean-Pierre Delville (31 May 2013 Appointed - )

Historical Summary

Date	Event	From	To
Diocese of Tongres (Tongeren)
344	Erected	Diocese of Köln	Diocese of Tongres (Tongeren) (erected)
Diocese of Maastricht
384	Name Changed	Diocese of Tongres (Tongeren)	Diocese of Maastricht
Diocese of Liège
720	Name Changed	Diocese of Maastricht	Diocese of Liège
12 May 1559	Territory Lost	Diocese of Cambrai Diocese of Liège	Archdiocese of Mechelen (erected)
12 May 1559	Territory Lost	Diocese of Liège	Diocese of Namur {Namen} (erected) Diocese of ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) (erected)
12 May 1559	Territory Lost	Diocese of Cambrai Diocese of Liège	Diocese of Antwerpen {Antwerp, Anvers} (erected)
12 May 1559	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Köln {Cologne} Diocese of Liège	Diocese of Roermond (erected)
29 November 1801	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Köln {Cologne} Diocese of Liège	Diocese of Aachen (erected)
1840	Territory Lost	Diocese of Liège	Vicariate Apostolic of Limburg (erected)
Diocese of Liège, Eupen et Malmédy
30 July 1921	Name Changed	Archdiocese of Köln {Cologne} (Eupen and Malmédy) Diocese of Liège	Diocese of Liège, Eupen et Malmédy
Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich)
16 November 1925	Name Changed	Diocese of Liège, Eupen et Malmédy	Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich)
31 May 1967	Territory Lost	Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich) (Limbourg)	Diocese of Hasselt (erected)
30 November 1977	Territory Lost	Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich) (St. Remigius in Landenne, B. M. V. Auxiliatrix in Petit-Wäret, St. Stephen in Seilles and SS. Peter and Paul in Povedroux) Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel {Malines-Brussels} (S. Philibert in Noville-sur-Mehaigne) Diocese of Tournai {Doornik} (St. Lambert in Boignée)	Diocese of Namur {Namen}
30 November 1977	Territory Added	Diocese of Namur {Namen} (S. Maurice in Arbrefontaine, B. M. V. Assumptae in My and the Chapel of S. Stephen in Ville)	Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich)

Year Catholics Total Population Percent Catholic Diocesan Priests Religious Priests Total Priests Catholics Per Priest Permanent Deacons Male Religious Female Religious Parishes Source

Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich)

1950 1,300,000 1,424,297 91.3% 1,810 710 2,520 515 1,400 5,500 778 ap1951

1970 900,000 1,016,131 88.6% 980 318 1,298 693 2 461 515 ap1971

1980 800,000 1,007,490 79.4% 787 223 1,010 792 31 304 1,819 518 ap1981

1990 780,000 993,060 78.5% 659 189 848 919 66 256 1,239 523 ap1991

1999 700,000 1,017,805 68.8% 480 209 689 1,015 72 276 801 505 ap2000

2000 700,000 1,016,762 68.8% 465 185 650 1,076 74 247 762 525 ap2001

2001 700,000 1,020,077 68.6% 445 184 629 1,112 75 247 743 525 ap2002

2002 700,000 1,023,506 68.4% 440 184 624 1,121 74 250 743 525 ap2003

2003 700,000 1,023,506 68.4% 421 122 543 1,289 76 175 609 525 ap2004

2004 700,000 1,023,506 68.4% 402 122 524 1,335 74 168 579 525 ap2005

2013 721,000 1,054,000 68.4% 285 100 385 1,872 69 140 443 525 ap2014

2016 731,000 1,092,226 66.9% 301 61 362 2,019 71 130 452 525 ap2017

2019 731,600 1,093,377 66.9% 324 57 381 1,920 66 290 114 552 ap2020

2021 735,000 1,098,450 66.9% 277 71 348 2,112 59 93 226 551 ap2022

2023 741,625 1,108,400 66.9% 242 77 319 2,324 58 95 216 545 ap2024

Year	Catholics	Total Population	Percent Catholic	Diocesan Priests	Religious Priests	Total Priests	Catholics Per Priest	Permanent Deacons	Male Religious	Female Religious	Parishes	Source
Diocese of Liège (Luik, Lüttich)
1950	1,300,000	1,424,297	91.3%	1,810	710	2,520	515		1,400	5,500	778	ap1951
1970	900,000	1,016,131	88.6%	980	318	1,298	693	2	461		515	ap1971
1980	800,000	1,007,490	79.4%	787	223	1,010	792	31	304	1,819	518	ap1981
1990	780,000	993,060	78.5%	659	189	848	919	66	256	1,239	523	ap1991
1999	700,000	1,017,805	68.8%	480	209	689	1,015	72	276	801	505	ap2000
2000	700,000	1,016,762	68.8%	465	185	650	1,076	74	247	762	525	ap2001
2001	700,000	1,020,077	68.6%	445	184	629	1,112	75	247	743	525	ap2002
2002	700,000	1,023,506	68.4%	440	184	624	1,121	74	250	743	525	ap2003
2003	700,000	1,023,506	68.4%	421	122	543	1,289	76	175	609	525	ap2004
2004	700,000	1,023,506	68.4%	402	122	524	1,335	74	168	579	525	ap2005
2013	721,000	1,054,000	68.4%	285	100	385	1,872	69	140	443	525	ap2014
2016	731,000	1,092,226	66.9%	301	61	362	2,019	71	130	452	525	ap2017
2019	731,600	1,093,377	66.9%	324	57	381	1,920	66	290	114	552	ap2020
2021	735,000	1,098,450	66.9%	277	71	348	2,112	59	93	226	551	ap2022
2023	741,625	1,108,400	66.9%	242	77	319	2,324	58	95	216	545	ap2024