Father Michel Remery

Rev Dr Michel Remery M.Sc. (1973), is a priest of the Diocese of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He studied architecture at Delft University of Technology, and worked for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and later as an expat engineer in the Baltic States for the consulting and engineering firm Tebodin. Father Michel studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained a priest in 2004. For several years, he was a member of an advisory committee on new media and young people at the Vatican office for Internet affairs. In 2008, he completed a doctoral dissertation on the relationship between liturgy and architecture. He published various books and articles on this theme and is a research fellow of the School for Catholic Theology of Tilburg University. 

Youth, parish work, and Europe

From 2006 to 2012, Father Michel served as an assistant priest at several parishes in Leiden, the Netherlands, where he worked mainly with young people and university students. This is where Tweeting with GOD came into existence, later renamed Navigating with GOD. Together with the young people he made pilgrimages to e.g. Rome, the Holy Land, Krakow, Istanbul, Surinam, and to many World Youth Days. Subsequently, Father Michel served as the Vice Secretary General of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Among other tasks, he was the secretary of the Commission for Social Communications and the Commission for Catechesis, Schools and Universities. He also served as the national point of contact on hate crimes against Christians for the Vatican at the OSCE, the Intergovernmental Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

International projects

In 2018, Father Michel continued his priestly mission in Luxembourg, where he served as the national youth chaplain. Since 2023, he combines his mission for DeoQuest with work for Rotterdam diocese in the Netherlands. As Director of DeoQuest, his tasks involve supporting group leaders and Church officials at local, national and international level, promoting an exchange of experiences and new ideas, and engaging in a dialogue with people all over the world, both online and offline. Together with an enthusiastic team he continues to develop and expand international initiatives related to DeoQuest.

Father Michel speaks Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Luxembourgish, Spanish, and has a basic grasp of Polish and Portuguese.