Belgium

The Latest

Tom Mortier

Europe’s top human rights court to rule on landmark euthanasia case

Oct 3, 2022

By AC Wimmer

The European Court of Human Rights is set to rule in a landmark case on Tuesday on whether Belgium wrongly... Read more

Bishop Lucas Van Looy, S.D.B., pictured at a Vatican press conference on the family synod, Oct. 23, 2015.

Pope Francis accepts Belgian bishop’s request not to be made a cardinal

Jun 16, 2022

By CNA Staff

Bishop Lucas Van Looy was due to receive the red hat on Aug. 27. Read more

Pope Francis greets participants in a conference on the Italian diaspora in Europe at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Nov. 11, 2021.

Pope Francis: Failure to integrate migrants can create serious problems

Nov 11, 2021

By CNA Staff

The pope referred to a 2016 terror attack in Belgium. Read more

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish Catholic bishops’ conference.

Polish Catholic Church to hold day of solidarity with Europe’s flood victims as death toll rises

Jul 16, 2021

By CNA Staff

At least 120 people have died in the floods, many of them in Germany. Read more

Abbey brewer Fr. Karel Stautemas and master brewer Marc-Antoine Sochon toast the opening of Grimbergen Abbey Brewery in Belgium.

Beer-making returns to Belgian Catholic abbey after 200 years

Jun 3, 2021

By CNA Staff

The Norbertine monastery was forced to abandon brewing after the French Revolution. Read more

Stock image via Shutterstock

Elderly religious overlooked in Belgium’s early COVID-19 vaccination programs

Mar 1, 2021

A body representing religious men and women has questioned the exclusion of elderly religious from the early stages of coronavirus... Read more

Credit: Frank Busch/Unsplash (CC0).

Belgium and the Netherlands see rapid rise in euthanasia and assisted suicide cases

Feb 16, 2021

Euthanasia and assisted suicide cases have risen rapidly in Belgium and the Netherlands since the practices were legalized in 2002,... Read more

CNA

Jews, Muslims decry court decision backing Belgian ban on kosher, halal slaughter

Dec 18, 2020

Despite concern that a Belgian law bans Jewish and Muslim religious slaughter practices, a European Union court has said the... Read more

The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium.

Belgium allows 15 people at Mass in ‘slight easing’ of public worship ban

Dec 11, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

The government of Belgium has agreed to ease restrictions on Mass celebrated with the public beginning Dec. 13, permitting a... Read more

The statue of St. Paul stands above the gable of Liège Cathedral in Belgium.

Construction crane knocks head and torso off Catholic cathedral’s statue of St. Paul

Dec 8, 2020

A construction crane knocked the head and torso off a statue of St. Paul atop Liège Cathedral in Belgium Monday.  Read more

Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium.

Belgian Catholics organize legal challenge to public Mass ban

Dec 7, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

Catholics in Belgium are seeking to take legal action against the government after it decreed that public Masses will remain... Read more

The Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium.

No public Masses until January for Belgian Catholics

Dec 1, 2020

Belgium’s Catholic bishops called Tuesday for dialogue with the government after it decreed that public Masses would remain suspended until... Read more

The Catholic Cathedral of St. Paul in Liège, Belgium.

Catholic Church in Belgium sees year-on-year rise in Mass attendance

Nov 18, 2020

The Catholic Church in Belgium reported Wednesday a rise in Mass attendance in 2019 compared to the previous year.   Read more

A 12th-century baptismal font at Collegiate Church of St. Bartholomew, Liège, Belgium.

Catholic Church in Belgium sees rise in adult baptisms

Aug 22, 2020

The Catholic Church in Belgium has reported a significant rise in adult baptisms.  Read more

Newborn baby being treated in an incubator.

Infanticide ok with 90% of NICU docs and nurses in Belgian survey

Aug 19, 2020

By Christine Rousselle

A new survey of neonatal medical professionals in the Belgian region of Flanders has found that nearly nine out of... Read more

CDF: Belgian Brothers of Charity hospitals must drop Catholic identity over euthanasia

May 4, 2020

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has ordered 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium which belong to the Brothers... Read more

Carnival float during the 2019 parade in Aalst.

Belgian PM condemns anti-Semitic floats in historic parade

Feb 24, 2020

For the second consecutive year, organizers of the Aalst Carnival included numerous apparetnly anti-Semitic caricatures and floats in the annual... Read more

Law Courts in Ghent, Belgium.

Catholics excluded from unlawful euthanasia trial in Belgium

Jan 14, 2020

A Belgian lawyer has admitted to searching the social media profiles of potential jurors to weed out “devout Catholics” for... Read more

European Court.

Human rights court to hear case of Belgian euthanasia for depression

Jan 9, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights has announced that it will take up a case considering whether Belgium wrongly allowed... Read more

Belgian prosecutors investigate euthanization of woman on autism spectrum

Dec 3, 2018

By Jonah McKeown

In the first criminal investigation of euthanasia since Belgium legalized the practice, the country's authorities are looking into the 2010... Read more