Constant Lievens
Belgian Jesuit missionary known as the apostle of Chotanagpur in India
Who they were
Constant Lievens, a Jesuit from Moorslede in West Flanders, worked from 1885 among the Munda and Oraon peoples of Chotanagpur, defending landless labourers in the courts; the mission around Ranchi grew from about 2,000 to 100,000 Catholics. Worn out by tuberculosis he returned to Belgium and died at the Jesuit house in Heverlee. The Jesuits give his death as 7 November 1893, where the Hagiography Circle record says 6 May 1893.
The miracles
No miracle has been approved. The cause is at its first stage.
Why that counted as sanctity
A beatification process was set in motion in 2001 and is guided for the diocese of Bruges by the postulator Bart Geryl.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Jezuïeten — Constant Lievens sj
- Jezuïeten — Postulator Bart Geryl hoopvol over zaligverklaring Constant Lievens sj
Checked against the sources listed on 24 September 2026. Corrections welcome.