Seghers was born in
Ghent on 3 September 1855, the son of a lawyer. He studied at the
Jesuit secondary school in Ghent and the minor seminary. In 1874 he entered the
Major Seminary of Ghent for three years of Theology, which he followed with another three years at the
Catholic University of Leuven, graduating
Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1880. After a few months as an assistant in a parish in Ghent he was appointed professor of
Moral Theology at the Major Seminary and an
honorary canon of
Ghent Cathedral on 9 December 1880. In 1888 he resigned his teaching position and asked the bishop,
Henri-Charles Lambrecht, to send him to a working-class parish. On 26 July 1888, he was appointed
parish priest of
St John the Baptist's church. In April 1898 it became the seat of a new
deanery. In February 1917, five months after the death of
Antoon Stillemans (bishop 1890–1916), Seghers was appointed to succeed as bishop. He was consecrated on 1 May the same year, taking
In cruce salus as his motto. His position was made more difficult by the
German occupation of Belgium during World War I. After the
First World War, Seghers promoted spiritual renewal through
Eucharistic Congresses, which were held in Ghent (1922), Eeklo (1923) and Sint-Niklaas (1924), and diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes, which were organised from 1921 onwards. He also founded a Federation of Catholic Women in the diocese. In 1926, suffering from ill health, he asked for a coadjutor, and in March 1927
Honoré Jozef Coppieters was appointed such. Seghers died in Ghent on 17 May 1927. ==Publications==