✝ LOUIS BONGERS SDS

RIP: 23/03/2025 - Solingen, Germany, BG

He was 83 years old and had been professed for 63 years.

Father Louis Bongers was born on 5 February 1942 in Hamont, Belgium. From an early age, he felt a calling to religious life and the priesthood. He attended the Salvatorian College in Hamont, then went to the novitiate in Passau, where he took his first vows on September 8, 1961. After that, he studied at the University of Louvain and was ordained a priest in Heverlee on 30 March 1968. His first apostolic assignment was in the former Belgian Congo. After that, he worked for several years as a chaplain in St. Catherine’s, Solingen-Wald, in the Archdiocese of Cologne. From 1978 to 2008, Father Louis served as a parish priest there, a role he retained as a parish vicar in the newly formed parish of St. Sebastian until the onset of his illness.

He enjoyed pursuing his hobbies, such as listening to classical music, collecting stamps and pictures of Mary, the mother of God. Father Louis was a Salvatorian through and through. He liked to emphasize that he did not want to be the boss of the Christians, but to join them in their search for the right path in life. Many encounters and conversations were very close to his heart. He died in Solingen on 23 March 2025 at 83 years of age, with 63 years of vows and 56 years a priest. May he now rest in peace with the Savior of the world.