page_title: Roman Catholic Diocese of Bruges
section_title: Ordinaries
hierarchical_section_title: Roman Catholic Diocese of Bruges / Ordinaries
caption_attribution_description: English: A picture of bishop Lode Aerts of Bruges, taken in February 2020.
context_page_description: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bruges, is a suffragan diocese in ecclesiastical province of the primatial Metropolitan archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.
  The Renaissance diocese since 1558 was suppressed in 1801 during the Napoleonic and Dutch eras and restored in 1834 a pre-diocesan stage as Apostolic vicariate since 1832. Its territory coincides with West Flanders.
  Its cathedral episcopal see is the Sint-Salvator Cathedral, dedicated to Our Savior, in Bruges, West Flanders province, a minor basilica a minor World Heritage Site. Its patron saint however is Saint Donatian, hence the cathedral is also known as Sint-Salvators- en Donaaskathedraal after both saints.
context_section_description: 1560–1567: Petrus Curtius (Petrus De Corte)
  1569–1594: Remigius Driutius
  1596–1602: Mathias Lambrecht
  1604–1616: Charles Philippe de Rodoan
  1616–1620: Anthonius Triest (also bishop of Ghent)
  1623–1629: Denis Stoffels
  1630–1639: Servaas de Quinckere
  1642–1649: Nicolaas de Haudion
  1651–1660: Carolus van den Bosch (afterwards bishop of Ghent)
  1662–1668: Robert de Haynin
  1668–1671: Charles Geleyns
  1671–1681: François de Baillencourt
  1682–1689: Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano (also Archbishop of Mechelen)
  1691–1706: Guilielmus (Willem) Bassery
  1706–1716: Vacant
  1716–1742: Hendrik Jozef van Susteren
  1743–1753: Jan-Baptist de Castillon
  1754–1775: Joannes-Robertus Caimo
  1777–1794: Felix Brenart
  Suppressed
  Apostolic Administrator of West Flanders
  François-René Boussen (January 21, 1833 – May 27, 1834 see next), Titular Bishop of Ptolemais (December 17, 1832 – June 23, 1834), Coadjutor Bishop of Gent (Belgium) (December 17, 1832 – June 23, 1834)
  Suffragan Bishops (present diocese)
  1834–1848: François-René Boussen (see previous)
  1848–1864: Joannes-Baptista Malou
  1864–1894: Johan Joseph Faict
  1894–1895: Petrus De Brabandere
  1895–1931: Gustavus Waffelaert
  1931–1952: Henricus Lamiroy
  1952–1984: Emiel-Jozef De Smedt
  1984–2010: Roger Joseph Vangheluwe
  2010–2015: Jozef De Kesel, later promoted Metropolitan Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels
  2016–present: Lode Aerts
caption: Lode Aerts, bishop as of 2016
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.10.14", "Image DateTime": "2020:02:10 14:35:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "276", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "15912", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "170", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "256", "Thumbnail BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail PhotometricInterpretation": "6", "Thumbnail SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "16038", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9642", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2020:02:10 13:36:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020:02:10 13:36:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "9/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "38", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "6000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4000", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "57", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}