Religion in Belgium
Encyclopedia
A 2006 inquiry in Flanders
showed 55% of its inhabitants calling themselves religious, while 36% claimed to believe that God created the world.
Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church attendance
was 5.4% in Flanders compared to 12.7% in 1998 For the total of Belgium, Sunday church attandance was 5 % in 2009 and 11.2% for the total of Belgium in 1998 . Despite an 6% drop in Sunday church attendance from 11 to 5 % in 9 years, Catholicism nevertheless remains an important force in the Belgian society.
Until 1998, the Roman Catholic Church annually published key figures such as Sunday mass attendance and the number of baptized children. (Refer to the table for an overview 1967 - 2009.) In 2006, the church published the mass attendance figure for the Christmas period being 11.5%, and 7% average weekly (note not only Sunday) mass attendance for the Flanders region. Since 2000, Sunday church attendance in Flanders drops by 0.5% on a yearly basis whereas this rate of decrease was previously 1%.
The second largest religion practiced in Belgium is Islam
(6%). There are also small minorities of Protestants
, Orthodox
, Anglicans
and Jews
. Belgian law officially recognizes those denominations, as well as the secular organizations (Dutch
: vrijzinnige levensbeschouwelijke organisaties, French
: organisations laïques). Buddhism
is in the process of being recognized under the secular organization standard. Official recognition means that priests (called "counsellors" within the secular organizations) receive a state stipend, and that parents can choose any recognized denomination to provide religious education to their children if they attend a state school.
After attaining autonomy from the federal state level in religious matters, the Flemish regional parliament voted a new Flemish regional decree on recognized religious denominations, installing democratically elected church councils for all recognized religious denominations and made them subject to the same administrative rules as local government bodies - with important repercussions as far as financial accounting and open government
are concerned. In 2006, however, the Catholic bishops still appointed candidates to the Catholic Church councils because they had not decided on the criteria for eligibility. That is, they were afraid that Catholic candidates who might get elected would be merely baptized Catholics. By 2008, however, the bishops decided that candidates for the election of the church councils had only to prove that they were over 18, a member of the parish church serving the town or village in which they were residents, and that they were baptized Catholic. Thus normal elections took place.
Hinduism
and Sikhism
also have growing numbers of adherents in Belgium, but are not recognized by the government. This does not deny them the right to practice their religion, merely the right to have government-style elections and regulations on them.
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll
2005,
The precise figures are in dispute; however, among some committed people, as it is unclear how many Belgians who say they believe in a God can still be called Christians and how many who call themselves "Christian," but refuse the label "Catholic," have severed all links to the Roman Catholic Church
. Possibly Catholic pastors keep records of this, but they are unknown. Also in dispute are how many Catholic Belgians have become deists
or have joined one of the several small Protestant
churches. Again, it would be up the respective churches to determine this data. In the United States, for example, some people move in and out of churches without giving up their so-called "home church," the church in which they were baptized. So it is hard to discern the church to which they have an allegiance.
under Joseph II
of Austria
, Roman Catholicism was the only religion allowed (on penalty of death) in the territories now forming Belgium. However, a small number of Protestant groups managed to survive, at Maria-Horebeke
, Dour
, Tournai
, Eupen
and Hodimont
.
Religion was one of the differences between the almost solidly Roman Catholic south and the predominantly Protestant north of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
, formed in 1815. The union broke up in 1830 when the south seceded to form the Kingdom of Belgium. Roman Catholicism in Belgium's first century was socially such a binding factor that it prevailed over the important difference in languages (Dutch versus French). The loss in importance of religion as a social marker across late 20th century Western Europe, explains to a large extent the current centrifugal forces in Belgium, with language differences (increasingly reinforced by a positive feedback
effect on the media
) no longer being kept in check by a religious binding factor. If anything, the Catholic Church has acquiesced to these changes by having a Dutch-speaking university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
) and a French-speaking university (Universite Catholique de Louvain
).
Until the late 20th century, Roman Catholicism played an important role in Belgian politics. One significant example of this are the so-called "school wars" (Dutch: schoolstrijd, French: guerres scolaires) between the philosophically left-wing parties (Liberals
first, Liberals and Socialists
later) and the Catholic (later Christian Democrat) party, which took place between 1879 and 1884 and later between 1954 and 1958. Another important controversy happened in 1990 when the very religious Catholic monarch, King Baudouin I, refused to officially ratify with his signature an abortion
bill that had already been approved by parliament. The king then asked Prime Minister Wilfried Martens
and his government to find a solution, which proved novel. The government declared King Baudouin unfit to fulfill his constitutional duties as monarch for one day, while Government ministers signed the bill in his place, and then proceeded to reinstate the king after the abortion law had come into effect.
In 2002, the then officially recognized Protestant denomination, the United Protestant Church of Belgium, itself the result of mergers in 1839, 1969 and 1979 (consisting of around 100 member churches, usually with a Calvinist
or Methodist
past) and the until then unsubsidized Federal Synod of Protestant and Evangelical churches (600 member churches in 2008, but still not including all evangelical and charismatic groups outside the Catholic tradition) together formed the Administrative Council of the Protestant and Evangelical Religion (ARPEE in Dutch, CACPE in French), which is now the accepted mouthpiece of Protestantism in all three linguistic communities. Based on a 2001 survey conducted by evangelical sources, charismatic and evangelical associations claim a membership of 4% of the Belgian population (a modest percentage of the total population but allegedly a half percentage point more than that of the current Muslim population, as tallied by non-religious sources).
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. However, government officials continued to have the authority to research and monitor religious groups that are not officially recognized. There were a few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Some reports of anti-Semitic or Islamophobic acts are difficult to ascribe to people based on a primary motivation of ethnicity or religious belief, as they are often inextricably linked. Some reports of discrimination against minority religious groups surfaced as well.
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
showed 55% of its inhabitants calling themselves religious, while 36% claimed to believe that God created the world.
Status of recognized denominations
| Catholics in Belgium |
||||||||||
| year | Sunday Mass Attendance (%) | baptism (%) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 42.9% | 93.6% | ||||||||
| 1973 | 32.3% | 89.3% | ||||||||
| 1980 | 26.7% | 82.4% | ||||||||
| 1985 | 22.0% | - | ||||||||
| 1990 | 17.9% | 75.0% | ||||||||
| 1995 | 13.1% | - | ||||||||
| 1998 | 11.2% | 64.7% | ||||||||
| 2006 | 7% weekly Flanders only | 56.8% | ||||||||
| 2009 | 5 % | |||||||||
Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church attendance
Church attendance
Church attendance refers to the reception of religious services offered by a particular church, or more generally, by any religious organisation.-Participation statistics:...
was 5.4% in Flanders compared to 12.7% in 1998 For the total of Belgium, Sunday church attandance was 5 % in 2009 and 11.2% for the total of Belgium in 1998 . Despite an 6% drop in Sunday church attendance from 11 to 5 % in 9 years, Catholicism nevertheless remains an important force in the Belgian society.
Until 1998, the Roman Catholic Church annually published key figures such as Sunday mass attendance and the number of baptized children. (Refer to the table for an overview 1967 - 2009.) In 2006, the church published the mass attendance figure for the Christmas period being 11.5%, and 7% average weekly (note not only Sunday) mass attendance for the Flanders region. Since 2000, Sunday church attendance in Flanders drops by 0.5% on a yearly basis whereas this rate of decrease was previously 1%.
The second largest religion practiced in Belgium is Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
(6%). There are also small minorities of Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, Anglicans
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
and Jews
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. Belgian law officially recognizes those denominations, as well as the secular organizations (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: vrijzinnige levensbeschouwelijke organisaties, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: organisations laïques). Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
is in the process of being recognized under the secular organization standard. Official recognition means that priests (called "counsellors" within the secular organizations) receive a state stipend, and that parents can choose any recognized denomination to provide religious education to their children if they attend a state school.
After attaining autonomy from the federal state level in religious matters, the Flemish regional parliament voted a new Flemish regional decree on recognized religious denominations, installing democratically elected church councils for all recognized religious denominations and made them subject to the same administrative rules as local government bodies - with important repercussions as far as financial accounting and open government
Open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction it opposes reason of state and racist considerations, which have tended to legitimize...
are concerned. In 2006, however, the Catholic bishops still appointed candidates to the Catholic Church councils because they had not decided on the criteria for eligibility. That is, they were afraid that Catholic candidates who might get elected would be merely baptized Catholics. By 2008, however, the bishops decided that candidates for the election of the church councils had only to prove that they were over 18, a member of the parish church serving the town or village in which they were residents, and that they were baptized Catholic. Thus normal elections took place.
Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
also have growing numbers of adherents in Belgium, but are not recognized by the government. This does not deny them the right to practice their religion, merely the right to have government-style elections and regulations on them.
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll
Eurobarometer
Eurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states...
2005,
- 43% of Belgian citizens responded that they believe there is a God.
- 29% answered that they believe there is some sort of spirit or life-force.
- 27% answered that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life-force.
The precise figures are in dispute; however, among some committed people, as it is unclear how many Belgians who say they believe in a God can still be called Christians and how many who call themselves "Christian," but refuse the label "Catholic," have severed all links to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Possibly Catholic pastors keep records of this, but they are unknown. Also in dispute are how many Catholic Belgians have become deists
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
or have joined one of the several small Protestant
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
churches. Again, it would be up the respective churches to determine this data. In the United States, for example, some people move in and out of churches without giving up their so-called "home church," the church in which they were baptized. So it is hard to discern the church to which they have an allegiance.
History
After the Spanish military conquest of 1592, and until the re-establishment of religious freedom in 1781 by the Patent of TolerationPatent of toleration
The Patent of Toleration was an edict issued in 1781 by the Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II of Austria. The Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in Habsburg lands, including Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Greek Orthodox. Specifically, these members of minority faiths...
under Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Roman Catholicism was the only religion allowed (on penalty of death) in the territories now forming Belgium. However, a small number of Protestant groups managed to survive, at Maria-Horebeke
Horebeke
Horebeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Sint-Kornelis-Horebeke and Sint-Maria-Horebeke. On January 1, 2006 Horebeke had a total population of 2,004...
, Dour
Dour
Dour is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 16,810 inhabitants. The total area is 33.32 km², giving a population density of 505 inhabitants per km²....
, Tournai
Tournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
, Eupen
Eupen
Eupen is a municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border , from the Dutch border and from the "High Fens" nature reserve...
and Hodimont
Verviers
Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...
.
Religion was one of the differences between the almost solidly Roman Catholic south and the predominantly Protestant north of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
, formed in 1815. The union broke up in 1830 when the south seceded to form the Kingdom of Belgium. Roman Catholicism in Belgium's first century was socially such a binding factor that it prevailed over the important difference in languages (Dutch versus French). The loss in importance of religion as a social marker across late 20th century Western Europe, explains to a large extent the current centrifugal forces in Belgium, with language differences (increasingly reinforced by a positive feedback
Positive feedback
Positive feedback is a process in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. That is, A produces more of B which in turn produces more of A. In contrast, a system that responds to a perturbation in a way that reduces its effect is...
effect on the media
Media (communication)
In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
) no longer being kept in check by a religious binding factor. If anything, the Catholic Church has acquiesced to these changes by having a Dutch-speaking university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
) and a French-speaking university (Universite Catholique de Louvain
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
).
Until the late 20th century, Roman Catholicism played an important role in Belgian politics. One significant example of this are the so-called "school wars" (Dutch: schoolstrijd, French: guerres scolaires) between the philosophically left-wing parties (Liberals
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
first, Liberals and Socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
later) and the Catholic (later Christian Democrat) party, which took place between 1879 and 1884 and later between 1954 and 1958. Another important controversy happened in 1990 when the very religious Catholic monarch, King Baudouin I, refused to officially ratify with his signature an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
bill that had already been approved by parliament. The king then asked Prime Minister Wilfried Martens
Wilfried Martens
Wilfried Martens is a Belgian politician. He was born in Sleidinge . Martens was the 44th Prime Minister of Belgium from 3 April 1979 to 6 April 1981 and 17 December 1981 to 7 March 1992....
and his government to find a solution, which proved novel. The government declared King Baudouin unfit to fulfill his constitutional duties as monarch for one day, while Government ministers signed the bill in his place, and then proceeded to reinstate the king after the abortion law had come into effect.
In 2002, the then officially recognized Protestant denomination, the United Protestant Church of Belgium, itself the result of mergers in 1839, 1969 and 1979 (consisting of around 100 member churches, usually with a Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
or Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
past) and the until then unsubsidized Federal Synod of Protestant and Evangelical churches (600 member churches in 2008, but still not including all evangelical and charismatic groups outside the Catholic tradition) together formed the Administrative Council of the Protestant and Evangelical Religion (ARPEE in Dutch, CACPE in French), which is now the accepted mouthpiece of Protestantism in all three linguistic communities. Based on a 2001 survey conducted by evangelical sources, charismatic and evangelical associations claim a membership of 4% of the Belgian population (a modest percentage of the total population but allegedly a half percentage point more than that of the current Muslim population, as tallied by non-religious sources).
Freedom of religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. However, government officials continued to have the authority to research and monitor religious groups that are not officially recognized. There were a few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Some reports of anti-Semitic or Islamophobic acts are difficult to ascribe to people based on a primary motivation of ethnicity or religious belief, as they are often inextricably linked. Some reports of discrimination against minority religious groups surfaced as well.
See also
- Basilica of the Sacred HeartBasilica of the Sacred Heart, BelgiumThe National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica and parish church in Brussels. The church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart, inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris. Symbolically King Leopold II laid the first stone of the basilica in 1905 during the...
in KoekelbergKoekelbergKoekelberg is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. On January 1, 2006 the municipality had a total population of 18,157... - Buddhism in BelgiumBuddhism in BelgiumBuddhism is a small religion in Belgium but despite lack of official recognition by the Belgian government has grown rapidly in recent years...
- Hinduism in BelgiumHinduism in BelgiumHinduism is a minority religion in Belgium.Hinduism is spread to Belgium mainly by ISKCON and Brahma Kumaris.-Hinduism in Belgium:There are around 6,500 Hindus in Belgium which includes 1,500 Hare Krishnas and 5,000 other Hindus.-Indian Community in Belgium:...
- History of Dutch religionHistory of Dutch religionPrior to the arrival of Christianity, the ancestors of the Dutch observed a form of Germanic paganism augmented with various Celtic elements, due to the close proximity of various Celtic tribes and the general cultural blend of the region. At the start of the 6th century the first missionaries...
- History of the Jews in BelgiumHistory of the Jews in BelgiumJews and Judaism have a long history in Belgium, from the 1st century CE until today. The Jewish community numbered 100,000 on the eve of the Second World War, but after the war and the Holocaust, is now less than half that number.-Early history:...
- Holy Corner, a small Ghent ecumenic neighbourhood with four officially recognized churchesHoly Corner (Ghent Béguinage)The Belgian city of Ghent has three béguinages: the "Old Saint Elisabeth", known in English as the Holy Corner, the new Saint Elisabeth béguinage in the Ghent suburb of Sint-Amandsberg and Our Lady Ter Hoyen in the Lange Violettenstraat...
- Islam in BelgiumIslam in BelgiumThe practise of Islam in Belgium is relatively new, and is mostly observed in the Belgian immigrant communities. It is the largest minority religion in Belgium.-Population:...
- Religion by country
- Roman Catholicism in BelgiumRoman Catholicism in BelgiumThe Belgian Catholic Church, part of the global Roman Catholic Church, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome and the Conference of Belgian Bishops.-Dioceses:...
- Scientology in BelgiumScientology in BelgiumScientology has operated in Belgium since 1972, but the organization has encountered difficulties there in recent years.-Status of Scientology in Belgium:...
- Sikhism in BelgiumSikhism in BelgiumSikhism is a minority religion in Belgium, but Sikhs have played a role in Belgian history; during World War I, many Sikhs fought in Belgium. In the First Battle of Ypres, an entire platoon of Dogra Sikhs died.-Migration to Belgium:...
External links
- Searchportal "Catholicism in Belgium"
- Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe
- Kerknet.be : Website of the Roman Catholic Church in Flanders (in Dutch)
- Catho.be : Website of the Roman Catholic Church in French-speaking Belgium (in French)
- Website of one of the German-speaking Roman Catholic parishes
- Website of ARPEE/CACPE, which unites UPCB and the Federal Synod (French and Dutch Protestant/Evangelical)
- Orthodox Church in Belgium (Dutch, French and Greek)
- Web page with the addresses of the Anglican church in Belgium
- Website of the Muslim Executive Council in Belgium (in French and Dutch, some English)
- Website of the Central Jewish Consistoire in Belgium (in French, no English as of 2008-04-10)
- Buddhist union of Belgium website (in Dutch and French)
- Namaskar - Hindu Association of Brussels, Belgium