Catholic Church in Belgium (original) (raw)

Also known as: Belgien (Deutsch), Bélgica (español, Português), la Belgique (français), Belgio (Italiano), Belgia (polski), België (Nederlands), 比利時 (正體中文), ベルギー (日本語), Belgica (latine)

Celebrations

Documents and Celebrations

Papal Visits

• 2024.09.26 – 2024.09.29: Apostolic Journey to Belgium
• 1995.06.03 – 1995.06.04: Apostolic Journey to Belgium
• 1985.05.16 – 1985.05.21: Apostolic Journey to Belgium

Geography

Cultural Summary

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant and other Christian 2.5%, Muslim 5%, Jewish 0.4%, Buddhist 0.3%, atheist 9.2%, none 32.6%

Languages: Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%

Ethnic Groups: Belgian 75%, Italian 4.1%, Moroccan 3.7%, French 2.4%, Turkish 2%, Dutch 2%, other 12.8%

Motto: Eendracht maakt macht (Dutch), L'union fait la force (French), Einigkeit gibt Stärke (German) (Unity gives Strength)

Statistics (2021.12.31)

Area: 30,528 km²

Catholic Population: 8,316,000 Catholics (72.0% of 11,555,000 total)

Pastoral Centres: 3,681 parishes, 434 other centres

Clergy: 23 bishops (8 diocesan, 15 titular), 3,925 priests (2,202 diocesan, 1,723 religious), 572 permanent deacons (563 diocesan, 9 religious)

Non-Clergy: 5,799 religious (370 brothers, 5,429 sisters), 93 members of secular institutes (sisters), 199 major seminarians, 37 missionaries, 8,814 catechists