RUTTEN, MARTIN-HUBERT. - Bishop of Liège (Belgium), b. at Geystingen (Limburg) on 18 Dec. 1841, d. at Liège on 17 July 1927.
Ordained priest in 1867, he was a professor at the Normal School of St-Trond; in 1873 director of the minor seminary of St-Roch; in 1877 of the minor seminary of St-Trond; in 1879 vicar general of the new bishop of Liège, whom he later succeeded in 1901. Under his episcopate the free school system increased notably, through the creation of new colleges and of professional or technical institutes, as did Catholic Action, which was then coming into being. The last quarter of the 19th century had seen the social question impose itself in a rather lively manner. From the beginning of his episcopate, R. had found himself in the midst of passionate struggles that divided the democratic Catholics from the conservative Catholics. He attempted, with little success, to act as mediator between the contending parties, after having in the early years energetically, perhaps excessively, hindered the daring, even if at times unclear, tendencies of the democratic camp. After the war of 1914-18, however, he favored very many social reforms. Another great problem that he found himself having to face was the Flemish movement, which developed in Belgium at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
This movement arose from the desire to give Flemish culture a place not unlike that which culture of French inspiration held in the life of Belgium, and also from the desire to favor the rapprochement of the social classes through the use of the same language. From his youth, R. was distinguished by his strong attachment to his mother tongue. It was precisely in that language that he published several literary works, particularly of a dramatic character, and he gave support to all the institutions that aimed to promote it. When he later became bishop, he was among the most ardent promoters of everything in the Flemish movement that contained legitimate aspirations. He also opposed, with firmness, all attempts at separatism, especially on the part of the activists, during the First World War. After the occupation of Belgium by the Germans, R. was one of the most intrepid defenders of the people against the violence of the enemy: his letters and his speeches, collected in a volume by Msgr. Simenon (Un évêque, défenseur de la cité), bear witness to this. Two of his books had great success at that time: Manuel d'apologétique and l'Eglise et les promesses divines.
Bibliography
Giovanni Vieujean