Mercier, Desire, << mehr SYAY, day zee RAY, >> Joseph (1851-1926), was a Belgian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who became a national hero during World War I (1914-1918). During the war, German troops occupied most of Belgium. Mercier spoke out against the injustices he saw in the occupation and tried to rally the morale of his fellow Belgians. Through his preaching and pastoral letters (statements on important issues for distribution to church members), he became a center of Belgian resistance to the German occupation. Mercier’s patriotic activities won great respect in Belgium and other countries fighting Germany.
Mercier was born on Nov. 21, 1851, in Braine-l’Alleud, Belgium. He was ordained a priest in 1874. He became a professor of philosophy at the Roman Catholic seminary in Malines in 1877 and at the University of Louvain in 1882. In 1889, Mercier founded and served as the first president of an institute of philosophy at Louvain. There, in 1892, he installed one of the first laboratories of experimental psychology in a European university. In 1906, Mercier was appointed archbishop of Malines. Pope Saint Pius X named him a cardinal in 1907. Mercier died on Jan. 23, 1926.
