Education
Upon the death of Pierre François Xavier de Ram, the bishops of Belgium chose Laforêt to succeed him in the rectorship of the university.
Upon the death of Pierre François Xavier de Ram, the bishops of Belgium chose Laforêt to succeed him in the rectorship of the university.
After the regular theological course at the seminary of Namur, he entered the Catholic University of Leuven (French: Louvain), where he applied himself especially to the study of Oriental languages, Holy Scripture, and philosophy. In 1848, he was appointed to the chair of moral philosophy at the university, and, the same year, received the doctorate in theology. Two years later he became president of the Collège du Pape.
One of his main undertakings was the foundation and organization of the schools of civil engineering, industry, and mines.
He also established a new literary and pedagogical school, the Justus Lipsius Institute.
