Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Belgium
The
Archdiocese of Mechelen?Brussels
(
Latin
:
Archidioecesis Mechliniensis?Bruxellensis
) is a
Latin Church
ecclesiastical territory or
archdiocese
of the
Catholic Church in Belgium
. It is the
primatial
see
of Belgium and the centre of the
ecclesiastical province
governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen?Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium. It was formed in 1559 and the
bishop
has a
seat
in two cathedrals,
St. Rumbold's Cathedral
in
Mechelen
and the
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
in
Brussels
. The current archbishop is
Luc Terlinden
, who was installed in September 2023.
Overview
[
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]
The Archdiocese of Mechelen?Brussels consists of the
Province of Brabant
in addition to eight
municipalities
in the
Province of Antwerp
, including
Bonheiden
,
Duffel
,
Mechelen
and
Sint-Katelijne-Waver
.
[2]
In 1995, the
Province of Brabant
was later split into three areas:
The Church did not form new dioceses to fit with this; instead, three vicariates general were created, with their own
auxiliary bishop
, to accommodate the three regional entities.
[2]
Language issues
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]
The name differs in the diocese's two languages; the Dutch name of the see is
Mechelen?Brussel
and in French, it is called
Malines?Bruxelles
.
In English,
Mechelen
was traditionally called
Mechlin
or
Malines
but now it more commonly remains being called
Mechelen.
Both
Brussel
and
Bruxelles
are called
Brussels
.
Cathedrals
[
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]
The duality of the Belgian archbishopric is also reflected in its two active
co-cathedrals
:
St. Rumbold's Cathedral
in Mechelen and
St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral
in Brussels.
Collegiate churches and chapters
[
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]
Former chapters in the archdiocese.
- Chapter of Our-Lady: Cathedral of Mechelen
- Chapter of Saint-Peter: Leuven
- Chapter of Saint John the Baptist: Diest
- Chapter of Saint-Sulpicius: Diest
- Chapter of Our-Lady: Aarschot
- Chapter of Saint-Leonard: Zouleeuw
- Chapter of Saint-Germanus: Tillemont
- Chapter of Saint-Michael and Gudule: Brussels Cathedral
- Chapter of Saint-Peter: Anderlecht
- Chapter of Our Lady and Saint-Martin: Aalst
- Chapter of Saint-Peter: Ninove
- Chapter of Saint-Peter: Rosmay
- Chapter of Saint-Hermes
- Chapter of Saint-Berland: Meerbeek
- Chapter of Saint-Paul: Nivelles
- Chapter of Saint-Gertrud: Nivelles
Abbeys
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]
In the territory of the diocese important abbeys can be found:
History
[
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]
The Archbishop of Mechelen?Brussels was historically primate of the whole of the
Low Countries
following the 1559 reorganisation creating fifteen dioceses. Over time, the two other ecclesiastical provinces broke from Mechelen?Brussels' primacy.
Cambrai
was already in France and its kings managed gradually to annex French Flanders, and
Utrecht
and its suffragans in the Dutch republic (later kingdom) would long have their hierarchy suspended because the northern state was a champion of "anti-papist" Calvinism. The Napoleonic 1801 concordat re-drew the whole map again.
The country, by tradition, has the Archbishop of Mechelen made a cardinal.
The Archdiocese of Mechelen was renamed the Archdiocese of Mechelen?Brussels on 8 December 1961 as part of a restructuring of the Catholic dioceses in Belgium.
[3]
Two new dioceses were created. On the same day, the
Diocese of Antwerp
was created from areas previously administered by the Archdiocese of Mechelen. Six years later the
Diocese of Hasselt
was also created.
[4]
This meant that the new dioceses largely corresponding to the
provinces of Belgium
. Most of the Catholic Church's presence in the
Province of Antwerp
(except in the municipality of Mechelen) was made into the
Diocese of Antwerp
.
Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard succeeded Cardinal Danneels in January 2010. On 22 February 2011,
Pope Benedict XVI
appointed Fr.
Jean Kockerols
, Fr.
Jean-Luc Hudsyn
, and Fr.
Leon Lemmens
as
auxiliary bishops
of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.
[5]
Upon reaching 75 years Leonard tendered his resignation, which was accepted. In the autumn of 2015 Pope Francis appointed the bishop of Bruges, Jozef De Kesel, as the new archbishop, who was created Cardinal in 2016. De Kesel was succeeded on 3 September 2023 by
Luc Terlinden
.
[6]
Heraldry
[
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]
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen?Brussels
|
- Adopted
- 1961, when the name of the archdiocese was changed.
[7]
[8]
- Escutcheon
- Quarterly 1st and 4th, Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second (
Scotland
), 2nd and 3rd quarterly, Gules St-Michael Or, slaying the demon Sable (
the City of Brussels
).
[7]
[8]
[9]
- Previous versions
- From 1559 to 1961: Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second (
Scotland
)
[7]
[8]
|
Bishops
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]
Ordinaries
[
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]
Archbishops of Mechelen
[
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]
- Cardinal
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle
(1561?1582)
- Joannes Hauchin
(1583?1589)
- Mathias Hovius
(1596?1620)
- Jacobus Boonen
(1621?1655)
- Andreas Creusen
(1657?1666)
- Joannes Wachtendonck
(1667?1668)
- Alphonse de Berghes
(1670?1689)
- Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
(1690?1711)
- Thomas-Philippe d'Alcase
(1715?1759) (Cardinal in 1719)
- Joannes-Henricus von Franckenberg
(1759?1801) (Cardinal in 1778)
- Jean-Armand de Bessuejouls Roquelaure
(1802?1809)
- Dominique-Georges-Frederic Dufour de Pradt
(1809?1817)
- Francois Antoine Marie Constantin de Mean et de Beaurieux
(1817?1831)
- Engelbert Sterckx
(1832?1867) (Cardinal in 1838)
- Victor-Auguste-Isidore Dechamps
(1867?1883) (Cardinal in 1875)
- Pierre-Lambert Goosens
(1884?1906) (Cardinal in 1889)
- Desire-Felicien-Francois-Joseph Mercier
(1906?1926) (Cardinal in 1907)
- Jozef-Ernest van Roey
(1926?1961) (Cardinal in 1927)
Archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels
[
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]
- Leo Joseph Suenens
(1962?1979), see name changed 2 weeks after 1961 appointment (Cardinal in 1962)
- Godfried Danneels
(1979?2010) (Cardinal in 1983)
- Andre-Joseph Leonard
(2010?2015)
- Jozef De Kesel
(2015?2023) (Cardinal in 2016)
- Luc Terlinden
(2023?present)
Coadjutor Archbishop
[
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]
Auxiliary Bishops
[
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]
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Municipal population figures, Federal Ministry of interior
Archived
2009-04-19 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
"Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels"
.
memim.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-03-04
. Retrieved
2015-06-08
.
- ^
Cheney, David.
"Mechelen-Brussel {Malines-Brussels} (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
2015-06-08
.
- ^
Cheney, David.
"Hasselt (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
2015-06-08
.
- ^
Service, VIS.
"VIS news - Holy See Press Office: Tuesday, February 22, 2011"
.
visnews-en.blogspot.ca
. Retrieved
2015-06-08
.
- ^
Decroubele, Peter (3 September 2023).
"Luc Terlinden, de nieuwe aartsbisschop met een bijna onmogelijke missie"
.
vrtnws.be
(in Dutch)
. Retrieved
3 September
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel - Arms, armoiries, escudo, wappen, crest of Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel"
.
www.heraldry-wiki.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-16
.
- ^
a
b
c
Duerloo ., Luc; Cheron, Marc (2011).
Heraldiek van het Aartsbisdom Mechelen-Brussel
. Wijnegem Homunculus.
- ^
"L'Archeveche (ou archidiocese) de Malines-Bruxelles"
.
Vicariat du Brabant wallon
(in French)
. Retrieved
2019-12-16
.
Bibliography
[
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]
External links
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]