VERMEERSCH, ARTHUR. - Moral theologian of the Society of Jesus, born at Ertvelde (province of East Flanders, Belgium) on 26 August 1858, died at Eegenhoven (Louvain) on 12 July 1936. He studied law at Namur, then at Louvain, where he obtained, in addition to a degree in civil law, one in political and social sciences. He entered the Society of Jesus on 27 September 1879. After three years of study, he taught in a secondary school for two years, then, having obtained degrees in theology and canon law at the Gregorian University in Rome, he began teaching in 1892 at the Collegium Maximum of the Society in Louvain. In 1918 he succeeded Fr. BUCCERONI, GENNARO (v.) in the chair of moral theology at the Gregorian University, which he held until 1934.
Endowed with a penetrating intellect and extraordinary capacity for work, V. left works of great value in various fields of sacred science. On legislation concerning religious he wrote the two volumes De religiosis institutis et personis, Bruges 1902; the second volume was continued with the quarterly publication De religiosis institutis et personis supplementa, etc., from which there later arose in 1911 the journal Periodica de re canonica et morali, in which he published almost single-handedly for more than twenty years highly esteemed dissertations and commentaries. Immediately after the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law, he published, in collaboration with Fr. Creusen, a compendium of it (Summa novi iuris, Malines 1918), followed by an extensive commentary in three volumes (Epitome iuris canonici, 1918–22, 7th ed.). A great admirer of the scholastic method in the teaching of moral theology, he wrote treatises on De iustitia (Bruges 1901), De virtute religionis et pietatis (ibid. 1912), and De castitate (Rome 1919). In 1924 he began in Rome the publication of his Theologia moralis — Principia — Responsa — Consilia in four volumes (4th ed. posthumous). He was also a highly regarded sociologist. His Manuel social (Bruges 1900) was awarded a prize by the Belgian government. Inspired by his deep piety, he wrote two volumes, Pratique et doctrine de la dévotion au Sacré Coeur (ibid. 1906), and two others, Méditations sur la Ste Vierge (ibid. 1905). The latter were translated into six languages.
V. was a man of prayer and great austerity, and many disciples and priests chose him as their spiritual director. He was created doctor honoris causa of the Universities of Louvain, Milan, and Budapest and received various civil honours. To celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday, a collection of studies was offered to him (Miscellanea V., 2 vols., Rome 1935). The complete list of his scholarly output up to 1935 comprises 44 works and pamphlets, 43 volumes of the Periodica, and countless articles in various languages. Also worthy of mention are De prohibitione librorum (Rome 1897), La question congolaise (Bruges 1906), and La tolérance (ibid. 1922, 2nd ed., Louvain 1922, translated into three languages).