The Jesuit University of Antwerp

BELGIUM, 2002, the 150th anniversary of the UFSIA, Scott 1899

In 1852 the Jesuits founded a college for higher education in commerce and trade in Antwerp, one of the first business schools in Europe. In 1965 the college was granted university status by the Belgian government and renamed Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen (UFSIA), also known as the Jesuit University of Antwerp. UFSIA offered degrees in applied economics, language, literature, philosophy, law, and social and political sciences. From the early 1970s UFSIA and two public institutions, the Rijksuniversitair Centrum Antwerpen (RUCA) and the Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen (UIA) formed a confederation, which merged into the public Universiteit Antwerpen (UA) in 2002. The Universitair Centrum Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen was established to continue the Jesuit tradition of the UFSIA.

Collège Saint-Michel, Brussels

 
BELGIUM, 2005, for the centenary of Collège Saint-Michel
a personalized label, the creation of Roland Francart, SJ, se-tenant with Scott 2111
BELGIUM, 2007, two of the three stamps in this tourism issue were Jesuit schools

BELGIUM, 2005, for the centenary of Collège Saint-Michel
personalized labels, the creation of Roland Francart, SJ, se-tenant with Scott 2111

BELGIUM, 2005, for the centenary of Collège Saint-Michel
personalized label, the creation of Philippe Capart, se-tenant with Scott 2111

BELGIUM, 2008 Collège Saint-Michel on a
personalized label, the creation of Roland Francart, SJ

On October 3, 1905 Collège Saint-Michel in Brussels, a secondary school run by the Jesuits, opened its doors to some 400 students. It was two more years before the red brick façade was completed. The school's Church of St. John Berchmans was built from 1908 to 1910 and consecrated in 1912. In 1906 the school moved from the center of town to a suburb of Brussels, Etterbeek. One wing of this new building was dedicated to the work of the Bollandists. Msgr. Georges Lemaître, Belgian mathematician, and Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and heir to the throne of Belgium are both alumni of St. Michel. More

The Old English Chapel, Chevremont

  
BELGIUM, 1948, Scott B452-53

The above semi-postal issue was to help the Carmelites rebuild their church at Chevremont, a long time center of Marian devotion near Liège. Two of the stamps pictured the old pilgrimage chapel built here by the English Jesuits in 1688. They were doing their studies in exile in Liège and came to this spot to work on the chapel. The chapel (see detail) is in the lower left of the rose stamp and behind the image of Our Lady in the blue. Note the Jesuit monogram IHS and the date 1688 to the left of the statue.

The Jesuit College, Namur

BELGIUM, 2007, the buildings of the Athénée Royal François Bovesse de Namur pictured here were originally the Jesuit College of Namur

The Jesuits came to Namur in 1610. The following year they began the buildings of Jesuit College in the very heart of old Namur. By 1620 the school, Jesuit residence and tower were completed. The College Church (below) facing the college was built between 1621 and 1645. The school and church were both lost to the Society with the Suppression in 1773. The school became a secular institution and eventually became the Athénée Royal François Bovesse de Namur. The Church, originally named for St. Ignatius, in 1777 became the parish church of St. Loup.

After the Restoration in 1831 a Jesuit College was reestablished in Namur in the buildings of the Benedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame de la Paix, and from it grew the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, today the University of Namur. In 1968 the college was transferred to Erpent, where it is today the Jesuit Collège Notre-Dame de la Paix Erpent.

The Church of St. Loup, Namur

BELGIUM, 1975, a series on the architectural heritage of Belgium, Scott 927

This Jesuit church in the Rue du College is considered the most perfect example of a Baroque-style church in Belgium. It was designed by the Jesuit brother and architect, Pieter Huyssens, SJ, and built between 1621 and 1645. It was originally named St. Ignatius Church. Next to the church was a Jesuit college, whence the name of the street, begun in 1610. After the Suppression of the Jesuits, the church became the parish church of St. Loup. The college building became the home of the Athénée Royal. The Jesuit college, Collège Notre-Dame de la Paix, was reestablished in in 1831 and moved to Erpent, Belgium in 1971.

The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, St.-Séverin-en-Condroz

BELGIUM, 1994, Scott 1558

The town of St.-Sévérin is now part of the larger municipality of Nandrin in the region of Condroz. It originated with the foundation here in 1091 of a Benedictine Priory. For reasons not completely clear, the Benedictines left the priory in the early 1500s. Various administrators ran it until 1574 when the Prince Bishop of Liège, Gérard de Groesbeek, entrusted it to the Jesuits of Liège who oversaw its administration until the Suppression in 1773. The Abbey was restored in 1996. More

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