Lode Aerts

He attended secondary school in Eeklo and entered the Diocesan Seminary in Ghent in 1977.

He studied philosophy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Theology at the diocesan seminary.

[1] He was ordained priest on 7 July 1984 and in 1988 obtained a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

[2] On 5 October 2016, Pope Francis appointed him to succeed Jozef De Kesel as Bishop of Bruges.

[5] He was consecrated on 4 December by Cardinal de Kesel, in the Cathedral of Saint Saviour.