Victor Roelens

Victor Roelens M. Afr.
Vicar Apostolic of Upper Congo
Church	Roman Catholic
Installed	30 March 1895
Term ended	22 September 1941
Successor	Urbain Etienne Morlion
Other posts	Titular Bishop of Girba (30 March 1895 - 25 August 1947)
Orders
Ordination	8 September 1884
Consecration	10 May 1896 by Archbishop Pierre-Lambert Goossens
Personal details
Born	21 July 1858 Ardooie
Died	5 August 1947
Nationality	Belgian
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Victor Roelens (21 July 1858 – 5 August 1947) was a Belgian priest who became Vicar Apostolic of Upper Congo in 1895, and remained the premier bishop in the Congo Free State, then the Belgian Congo, until he retired in 1941.^[1]

Roelins was born on 21 July 1858. His father was a gardener at the nearby Chateau des Comtes de Jonghe d'Ardoye. He attended the College of Tielt, spent a year at the seminary in Roeselare, and in 1880 at the age of 22 moved to the Novitiate of White Fathers in Algeria. Cardinal Charles Lavigerie made him a priest on 8 September 1884.^[2]

Roelens left Marseilles in July 1891 with a team of White Fathers bound for the Congo.^[3] On 30 March 1895 he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Upper Congo and Titular Bishop of Girba. He was ordained as Titular Bishop of Girba on 10 May 1895. On 22 September 1941 he retired as Vicar Apostolic of Baudouinville. He died on 5 August 1947, aged 89.^[1]

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