Vatican City, Jan 18, 2010 / 12:10 pm
At 69 years-old, Bishop André-Mutien Léonard has been nominated by Benedict XVI as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Malines-Brussels and primate of the Catholic Church of Belgium. The Pope's selection of their "most traditional bishop" will bring new direction to the Belgian Catholic Church.
The nomination of Bishop Léonard was officially recognized by the Vatican on Monday, but the story had already been leaked to the Belgian press by the bishop himself.
In a French-language interview with Belgium's RTL television on Saturday, Bishop Léonard openly confirmed rumors that, as long as the Pope survived the weekend, he would be chosen as the successor to Cardinal Godfried Danneels as the next archbishop of Malines-Brussels and primate of Belgium.
According to Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli, Bishop Léonard is considered the "most traditional" diocesan leader in the country. In a Jan. 13 report predicting Leonard's appointment, Tornielli cited what he called the "progressive" French magazine "Golias" which had expressed its "worry" in a 2007 article that the bishop might succeed Cardinal Danneels.