Mercier, Cardinal

Desire-Felicien-Francois-Joseph Mercier (1851-1926) was a Belgian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Mechelen from 1906 until his death and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1907. Mercier is noted for his staunch resistance to the German occupation of 1914. In 1877 Mercier began teaching philosophy at Mechelen's minor seminary, of which he also became spiritual director. His comprehensive knowledge of Saint Thomas Aquinas earned him the newly-erected chair of Thomism at Louvain's Catholic university in 1882.