Van de Vyver, Agostino

VAN DE VYVER, AGOSTINO. - Bishop, b. at Haesdonck (Belgium) on 1 Dec. 1844, d. at Richmond (Virginia, U.S.A.) on 16 Oct. 1911.

After completing his studies at the American College of Louvain, he was ordained a priest in 1870 and went immediately to the United States, to the diocese of Richmond. Pastor of Harper's Ferry from 1875 to 1881, he was subsequently called to exercise the same functions at the diocesan Cathedral, assuming a little later the office of vicar general to the bishop, Msgr. Keane. When the latter was called to another office, Van de Vyver was raised to the episcopate and placed at the head of the vast diocese of Richmond (1889). A prelate of broad learning and manifold activity, he was one of the most zealous North American bishops of his time and gave a notable development to Catholicism. To him are owed the construction of a new Cathedral, made necessary by the growth of his flock; the founding and spread of numerous Catholic associations (among them principally the Knights of Columbus); the establishment of schools, hospitals, and charitable and cultural institutions. A tireless promoter of the Catholic press, he took an active part in social problems. He further encouraged profitable meetings of the United States episcopate, so as to win wide sympathies not only among Catholics, but among all the inhabitants of Richmond, outside of any religious denomination.

Renzo U. Montini