Ulburghs, according to a commentator on one news website, recalling Matthew 25:40, was "the kind of priest who perfectly understood Jesus' message: Whatever you do to the least of mine, you do to me". Another obituary referred to him as a "liberation theologian".

The two notions are not far apart. Ulburghs was born in Heusden-Zolder, where his father was a livestock dealer. He studied in Beringen and then decided to become a priest, inspired by the work of Jozef Cardijn, the founder of the Catholic Workers Youth movement who later went on to become a cardinal. Ulburghs studied for ordination at the seminary in Liège.

His first posts were in the Liège area, until Hasselt became its own bishopric in 1967. He then moved back to Limburg, bringing the experience he gained working with coal and steel workers in Liège. Ulburghs joined the picket lines of the miners' strike in 1970, along with a hunger strike in Chile protesting at the North-South divide.

His first elected post saw him on the city council of Genk as an independent socialist, where he continued to ␣ght for the rights of the working classes. In 1984, he was elected to the European Parliament. In the meantime, he helped to set up the People's Health organisation which provided health care, much to the dislike of the medical establishment, to poor people.

Later he was attracted away by Agalev, the Flemish green party now known as Groen! With that party, he sat on the Flemish Council (now the Flemish Parliament) and the Genk city council. His various salaries were donated to social causes.

Through the years, Ulburghs wrote or contributed to 14 books and continued studying, earning a doctorate in political science at the age of 83. He once said: "␣e only place to discover God is in the facial expression of the man who suffers, struggles and still hopes." Ulburghs died at home in Heusden- Zolder, surrounded by his family.