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The Belgian Catholic Church, part of the global Roman Catholic Church, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Belgian Bishops.
There are eight dioceses, including one archdiocese, seat of the archiepiscopal residence and St. Rumbolds Cathedral, located in the old Flemish city of Mechelen (Malines in French). For the time lasting, the current archbishop of Mechelen and primate of all Belgium is Cardinal Godfried Danneels.
The Belgian church established and sponsors the Catholic University of Leuven, the largest, oldest, and most prominent university in Belgium. It is considered one of the "World's Best Colleges and Universities" in the new 2009 US News and World Report. The archbishop of Mechelen is ex officio the Great Chancellor of Leuven. It was founded by Pope Martin V in 1425. Some of its most notable graduates include Desiderius Erasmus, humanist, Georges Lemaitre, priest, astronomer, and proposer of the Big Bang theory, Otto von Habsburg, current head of the Habsburg family, Saint Alberto Hurtado, Chilean Jesuit priest who was canonized in 2005, Charles Jean de la Vallee-Poussin, mathematician who proved the prime number theorem, Christian de Duve, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1974, among others. The Belgian church also oversees the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the National Basilica of Belgium.
There are over seven million Catholics in Belgium, about three quarters of the total population. However, as elsewhere in Europe, securalisation has hit hard in Belgium; Sunday church attendance has dropped well below 10% as per latest research such as from the "Centrum voor politicologie" of the Catholic University Leuven.[1] Although sources are quoting different figures between 4 and 9 percent, a church attendance of 6 percent in 2009 seems to be the most likely figure. Sources are quoting a drop in attendance of 0,5 % yearly and in 1998 (the last year during which mass attendance was measured), attendance was just above 11 %. Early 2008, the Belgian Catholic Church has announced it will gather and publish adherence figures though the current usual Sunday attendance statistics does not seem to bother Cardinal Danneels, who said he was more concerned with the declining number of new priests.[2]
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References
- ^ Hooghe Marc, Quintelier Ellen & Reeskens Tim, "Kerkpraktijk in Vlaanderen. Trends en extrapolaties 1967-2004." Ethische Perspectieven, 16(2) (2006), pp. 113-123.
- ^ Robert Mickens, "Where have all the thinkers gone?" (interview), in The Tablet, May 31, 2008: 6-7.
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