Frans Gevaert
(1932-2023)
Born in Merksem on June 4, 1932.
Religious vows on September 8, 1952.
Ordained priest on August 3, 1958.
Missionary in D.R. Congo (Kasai), Philippines, Italy and Belgium.
Died in Malle on August 3, 2023, at the age of 91.
Father Frans, better known as Father Sus, was born on June 4, 1932 in Merksem as the second of six children in the Gevaert-Mertens family. After completing his Humanities at Saint John Berchmans College in Antwerp, he entered the novitiate in Scheut in 1951 and took his first vows on Sept. 8, 1952.
After the novitiate, he was sent to the Gregoriana in Rome and obtained a license in Philosophy. He returned to Belgium in 1955 and studied in theology in Kessel-Lo and Leuven. He was ordained priest on Aug. 3, 1958.
From 1959 to 1961, he was a philosophy professor at Kessel-Lo and Scheut. He began his doctoral studies at KU Leuven in 1961 and earned a doctorate in Philosophy in 1964. Again, he was appointed professor of philosophy in Kessel-Lo and Scheut until 1967.
After the school year in 1967, he left for Kasai, Congo. His first appointment was as a traveling priest in Muetshi. After two years of experiencing life in the remote villages, he was appointed professor of philosophy at Kabwe Seminary. A year later, he was called back to Belgium to teach philosophy in Zuun and later in Kortrijk.
In 1976, Sus left Belgium to go to the Philippines. He was first an assistant parish priest in Paco, Manila, then Vice-provincial and later Provincial Superior of the Philippine Province of CICM. Starting in 1991, Sus was once again able to devote himself entirely to parish pastoral ministry as an assistant priest and then parish priest, successively in Parañaque City, Lagro-Novaliches, and Mabuti Pastol in Quezon City. In 2002, Sus was appointed rector of the CICM
Collegio Missionario in Rome. A few years later, he returned to Belgium for good and served as a cooperating priest in the parishes of Our Lady Queen and Holy Family in Schoten. Since 2021, Sus resided at the Scheut mission house in Schilde. The people of the parish came to get him every Sunday to preside at the Eucharist. On Aug. 3, the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, he passed away gently in the Lord at Malle Hospital.
Sus was a philosopher with a great love for the Gospel. For many years, he was a professor of Philosophy in various houses of formation inside and outside the Congregation. But above all, he wanted to be close to the people, to speak and discuss with them, and teach them. He felt especially happy in the parish pastoral ministry in the Lord's vineyard. Now, he may rest forever with the Lord.
Luc Colla
