Victor Roelens

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.

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.

Roelens left Marseilles in July 1891 with a team of White Fathers bound for the Congo. 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.