Roman Catholic Church in Belgium

The Roman Catholic Church in Belgium has about 60% of the population, the largest religious community in Belgium . It is part of the global Roman Catholic Church .

Associated with the German church since the Middle Ages , it was reorganized in 1559 with the papal bull Super universas : Eight bishoprics emerged in the area of ​​what is now Belgium, then known as the Spanish Netherlands (from 1714 Austrian Netherlands ). The Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels was given the rank of primate . Always a flourishing monastery landscape, numerous male and female orders were formed in the course of the 19th century , mainly active in the social field. Until the second half of the 20th century , Belgian religious were considered leaders in mission . The northern part of Flanders in particular was strongly influenced by Catholicism until the 1970s , and since then a strong secularization has set in .

In Belgium approx. 7,845,000 out of 10,279,000 inhabitants are baptized Catholics , 58% are members of the Catholic Church or consider themselves Catholic. In 2009, the number of participants in the Sunday fair was around 5% of the total population. Since the mid-1960s, it has been falling continuously; in 1967 it was still 43%.

structure

The Church of Belgium consists of an ecclesiastical province with 3,946 parishes in eight dioceses :

• Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels
  • Diocese of Antwerp
  • Diocese of Bruges
  • Diocese of Hasselt
  • Diocese of Namur
  • Diocese of Liège
  • Diocese of Ghent
  • Diocese of Tournai

The central body of the Belgian bishops is the Belgian Bishops' Conference .

The State of Belgium maintains diplomatic relations with the Holy See , which has established an Apostolic Nunciature with its seat in Brussels as diplomatic representation . Apostolic Nuncio has been Archbishop Augustine Kasujja since October 12, 2016 .

The Belgian Roman Catholic Church was also shaken in 2010 by numerous cases of abuse that came to light.

See also

• List of Roman Catholic Dioceses

Web links

• Homepage of the Walloon Church and its dioceses (French)
• Flemish Church website (Flemish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.bruzz.be/samenleving/met-uitsterven-bedreigd-de-brusselse-kerkganger-2010-11-30
2. ^ Nomina del Nunzio Apostolico in Belgio. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , October 12, 2016, accessed October 12, 2016 (Italian).