The Brothers of Our Lady of Lourdes (French : Frères de Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Latin : Fratres Nostrae Dominae de Lurdensis, FNDL) are a Roman Catholic religious congregation founded in 1830 by Belgian priest Étienne-Modeste Glorieux (1802-1872). The congregation is dedicated to education and formation of the youth, particularly in technical training. The congregation was approved and given pontifical status by Pope Leo XIII in 1892.
Numbering 198 in 2009 [1] the brothers are active in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia (as Bruder Budi Mulia), Ethiopia and Brazil.
Gerard Leonard Frederik Philips was a Dutch industrialist and co-founder, with his father Frederik Philips, of Philips as a family business in 1891. In 1912, Gerard and his younger brother Anton Philips converted the business to a corporation by founding NV Philips' Gloeilampenfabrieken.
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to education.
The Brothers of Charity are an international religious institute of Religious Brothers and associate members at the service of the people most in need in the field of education and health care. The institute was founded in 1807 by Peter Joseph Triest in Ghent, Belgium. He also founded three other religious congregations inspired by Vincentian spirituality. The congregation's patron saint is St. Vincent de Paul. Today the Brothers maintain a presence in 30 countries.
The CICM Missionaries, officially known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and often abbreviated as C.I.C.M, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men established in 1862 by the Belgian Catholic priest Theophile Verbist (1823–1868). Its members add the post-nominal letters C.I.C.M. to their names to indicate membership in the congregation.
The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions is the largest of Belgium's three trade union federations.
Chiro Flanders or simply Chiro, is a Belgian youth organisation, founded on Christian values, active in Flanders, Brussels and Eupen-Malmedy. With more than 100,000 members Chiro is the biggest youth organization in Belgium. While mainly focusing on having fun, it also aims at developing youngsters' responsibility and skills. Chiro is a member of the umbrella of Catholic youth organizations Fimcap.
The Congregation of Our Lady of Sion is composed of two religious congregations in the Roman Catholic Church founded in Paris, France. One is composed of priests and religious brothers, founded in 1852, and the other is composed of religious sisters, founded in 1843, both by Marie-Théodore Ratisbonne, along with his brother Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, "to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in his love for the Jewish people and to hasten the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles"..
The Institute of the Josephites of Belgium, commonly called Josephites is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men devoted to the Christian education of the youth It was founded in Ghent Belgium by Canon van Crombrugghe, in 1817. Its members add the nominal letters C.J. after their names to indicate membership in the Institute.
Gaston C. S. A. Geens was a Belgian politician and minister-president of Flanders.
Victor Leemans was a Belgian sociologist, politician and prominent ideologist of the radical Flemish movement in the 1930s. A member of the militant organisation Verdinaso, he is seen by some as the main Flemish exponent of the historical phenomenon known as the Conservative Revolution.
Gérard (Gerard) François Marie Cooreman was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Aloys (Alois) Jean Maria Joseph, Viscount Van de Vyvere was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
André, Baron Vlerick (1919–1990) was a Belgian politician, businessman, professor and founder of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. He graduated in economy at the University of Ghent and was appointed at the University of Leuven as well as the University of Ghent as Professor of Economics. He founded the department of regional economy at the University of Ghent. He is also the founder of Protea, a pro-apartheid Belgian organisation which assisted the South African apartheid government in money laundering and circumventing sanctions through Kredietbank. Vlerick's lobbying efforts extended to a pan-European formation called Eurosa. In addition to Protea in Belgium, there were “sister organisations” in Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and West Germany. Evidence collected from Vlerick's archive has established that Eurosa received direct funding from the apartheid government. A member of the Christian People's Party he was appointed during various Belgian Governments in the 1960s-1970s as Minister of the Flemish Regional Economy, actually till his appointment as Minister of Finance in 1972. He was also appointed after the war as the Administrator of the Marshall Plan for Belgium. He was instrumental in the after-War years of the successful Flemish economic development. André Vlerick was a son-in-law of Gustave Sap and the uncle of Philippe Vlerick.
Jean V Charles, Count Snoy et d'Oppuers was a Belgian civil servant, diplomat and Christian Democratic politician of the PSC-CVP.
ARCO Group is a Belgian cooperative holding group, and part of the Catholic workers organisation Beweging.net formerly known as ACW. The group has more than 900,000 shareholders and a capital of 4.5 billion euro. Arcofin invests in the financial sector and Auxipar mainly invests in basic and utility service sectors, and real estate. In addition the group participates in the cooperative organisations Hefboom and Crédal and the non-profit organisations Procura and Syneco. Francine Swiggers is Chairman of the Management Board of the ARCO Group, she succeeded Rik Branson.
Keizersberg Abbey, also known as Mont César Abbey is a Benedictine monastery on the hill Keizersberg or Mont César in the north of the university town of Leuven, Belgium.
Arvesta, formerly known as Aveve is a Belgian company group which is active in agriculture and horticulture.
The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.C.M.) are a Roman Catholic religious institute of pontifical right of women, dedicated to the service of those in need in the Third World.
Jozef P. A. "Jos" Chabert was a Belgian politician born in Etterbeek. He lived the majority of his live in Meise, Belgium. Chabert died on 9 April 2014 in Brussels.
The Brothers of Our Lady Mother of Mercy, sometimes called the Brothers CMM or Brothers of Tilburg, is a Catholic lay religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded in Tilburg, the Netherlands, in 1844 by Johannes Zwijsen, and initially placed under the leadership of Franciscus Salesius de Beer (1821-1901). The purpose of the congregation was to carry out works of charity and works of mercy. The congregation currently has about 300 members working in 10 countries. In June 2014, Brother Lawrence Obiko was elected as superior general of the congregation. Its members add the nominal letters C.M.M. after their names to indicate membership in the congregation.