Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels
Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels Mechliniensis–Bruxellensis Mechelen–Brussel (in Dutch) Malines–Bruxelles (in French) | |
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Location | |
Country | Belgium |
Territory | Mechelen, the Brussels-Capital Region, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant |
Ecclesiastical province | Mechelen-Brussels |
Coordinates | 51°1′48.4″N 4°28′43.6″E / 51.030111°N 4.478778°ECoordinates: 51°1′48.4″N 4°28′43.6″E / 51.030111°N 4.478778°E |
Statistics | |
Area | 3,700 km2 (1,400 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members) | (as of 2019) 2,950,000 [1] 1,886,000 (63.9%) |
Parishes | 593 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 12 May 1559 |
Cathedral | St. Rumbold (Mechelen) (Primatial cathedral) |
Co-cathedral | St. Michael and Gudula (Brussels) |
Patron saint | Saint Rumbold of Mechelen |
Secular priests | 1812 |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Jozef De Kesel |
Suffragans | Antwerp Bruges Ghent Hasselt Namur Tournai Liège |
Auxiliary Bishops | Jean Kockerols Jean-Luc Hudsyn |
Vicar General | Etienne Van Billoen [2] |
Bishops emeritus | André-Joseph Léonard Archbishop Emeritus (2010-2015) Jan De Bie Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1982-2002) |
Map | |
Territorial extent of the Archidiocese of Mechelen-Brussels | |
Website | |
www | |
Source Annuario Pontificio 2007 |
The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels is an archdiocese of the Roman 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 Jozef De Kesel, who was installed in November 2015.
Overview[]
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.[3]
In 1995, the Province of Brabant was later split into three areas:
- the Dutch-speaking province of Flemish Brabant;
- the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region;
- the French-speaking province of Walloon Brabant.
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.[3]
Language issues[]
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[]
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[]
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[]
In the territory of the Diocese important abbeys can be found:
- Averbode Abbey
- Affligem Abbey
- Bornem Abbey
- Forest Abbey
- Grimbergen Abbey
- Groenendael Priory
- Dieleghem Abbey
- St. Bernard's Abbey, Hemiksem
- Keizersberg Abbey
- Kortenberg Abbey
- La Cambre Abbey
- Park Abbey
- Rouge-Cloître Abbey
- Vlierbeek Abbey
- Sheen Anglorum Charterhouse
History[]
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.[4] 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.[5] 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 André-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.[6] 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.
Heraldry[]
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Bishops[]
Ordinaries[]
Archbishops of Mechelen[]
- 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 Bessuéjouls Roquelaure (1802–1809)
- Dominique-Georges-Frédéric Dufour de Pradt (1809–1817)
- François Antoine Marie Constantin de Méan 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)
- Desiré-Félicien-François-Joseph Mercier (1906–1926) (Cardinal in 1907)
- Jozef-Ernest van Roey (1926–1961) (Cardinal in 1927)
Archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels[]
- Leo Joseph Suenens (1962–1979), see name changed 2 weeks after 1961 appointment (Cardinal in 1962)
- Godfried Danneels (1979–2010) (Cardinal in 1983)
- André-Joseph Léonard (2010–2015)
- Jozef De Kesel (2015–present) (Cardinal in 2016)
Coadjutor Archbishop[]
- Christoph Bartholomäus Anton Migazzi Von Waal Und Sonnenthurn (1751-1756), resigned (did not succeed to this see), and soon appointed Bishop of Vác, Hungary; future Cardinal
Auxiliary Bishops[]
- (1868-1893)
- (1934-1945), appointed Bishop of Tournai
- Jan De Bie (1987-2009)
- Luc Alfons De Hovre, S.J. (1982-2002)
- Josef De Kesel (2002-2010), appointed Bishop of Bruges; later returned here as Archbishop; future Cardinal
- 1950–1952), appointed Bishop of Bruges
- Jean-Luc Hudsyn (2011-)
- Jean Kockerols (2011-)
- Paul Lanneau (1982-2002)
- (1907-1940)
- (2011-2017)
- , O.P. (1562-1569)
- (1952-1986)
- Leo Jozef Suenens (1945-1961), appointed Archbishop here; future Cardinal
- (1930-1950)
- (1879-1909)
- (1893-1908)
- (1954-1971)
- Rémy Victor Vancottem (1982-2010), appointed Bishop of Namur
- (2018-)
- (1570-1579)
- (1909-1932)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops[]
- Joseph-Léon Cardijn, appointed titular archbishop and Cardinal in 1965
- , appointed Bishop of Tournai in 1915
- Victor-Auguste-Isidore Dechamps, C.SS.R. (priest here, 1834–1836), appointed Bishop of Namur {Namen} in 1865; later returned here as Archbishop; future Cardinal
- Maximilien de Fürstenberg, appointed apostolic delegate and titular archbishop in 1949; future Cardinal
- , appointed Bishop of Ghent in 1838
- Pierre-Lambert Goossens, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Namur in 1883; later returned here as Archbishop; future Cardinal
- Jean Jadot, appointed apostolic delegate and titular archbishop in 1968
References[]
- ^ Municipal population figures, Federal Ministry of interior Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Organigramme de l'Archidiocèse (in French)
- ^ Jump up to: 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.
- ^ Jump up to: 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.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Duerloo ., Luc; Cheron, Marc (2011). Heraldiek van het Aartsbisdom Mechelen-Brussel. Wijnegem Homunculus.
- ^ "L'Archevêché (ou archidiocèse) de Malines-Bruxelles". Vicariat du Brabant wallon (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
Bibliography[]
- "Dioceses in Belgium [Catholic-Hierarchy]". catholic-hierarchy.org. 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
External links[]
- Roman Catholic dioceses in Belgium
- Religious organizations established in the 1550s
- 1559 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
- Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 16th century