Archbishop of Brussels Suppresses a Conservative Religious Fraternity

BRUSSELS, June 28, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Primate of Belgium, who has been in office less than a year, has closed down, for dubious reasons, a priestly fraternity that had been blessed with many vocations.

At the end of last year, Jozef De Kesel was named the archbishop of Belgium's main See, Mechelen-Brussels, the successor of the traditionally-minded Archbishop André Léonard. While his predecessor was outspoken concerning pro-life issues and attacks on human sexuality, De Kesel promotes a church "not closed within herself" and that gives "reverence to homosexual people."

Now De Kesel has taken yet another step towards the "liberalization" of his diocese, by closing down a priestly fraternity established by his predecessor. Archbishop Léonard founded the so-called "Fraternité des Saints Apôtres/Broederschap van de Heilige Apostelen", or "Fraternity of the Holy Apostles", which was a public association of the clerical faithful, of diocesan right. Léonard entrusted the education of priests to the Fraternity and gave them two parishes in Brussels.

Read the rest here.

Bishop of Antwerp advocates church blessings for homosexual unions

The [Roman Catholic] Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny advocates an ecclesiastical recognition of homosexual relationships. The dogma that the Catholic Church can only accept male-female relationships, he put in question in an interview with this newspaper. "There should be a diversity of recognition forms." 

With his plea Bonny, is one of the first church leaders who attacks the absolute monopoly of the male-female marriage. "We have to look inside the church for a formal recognition of the relationality which is also present in many gay couples. As a variety of legal frameworks in society exist for partners, he wants to instate a diversity of recognition forms in the church." 

Read the rest here.
Original source

RIP: Fabiola Dowager Queen of the Belgians

Belgium's Dowager Queen Fabiola, the devoutly Roman Catholic widow of King Baudouin, has reposed at the age of 86.

Memory eternal!

100 Years Ago

H.M. Albert I of Belgium

Germany invaded Belgium, one of the most consequential military events in history. Great Britain responded with an ultimatum and then declared war at 11 PM GMT. There are few innocent victims in the catastrophe that was the Great War, but Belgium may be the only truly blameless country. All they wanted was to be left alone. (A cautionary lesson for radical isolationists. That kind of foreign policy only works if everyone else is abiding by the rules.)

King Albert I is my favorite monarch for his heroic stand against the Germans. Given the choice between dishonor and a ruinous war that he knew Belgium could not win, he chose to fight in defense of his little country's Independence and her violated neutrality.

100 Years Ago

H.I.M. Kaiser Willhelm II

The Imperial German Government delivered an ultimatum to Belgium, a country whose neutrality was guaranteed by treaty, demanding free passage for its army in order to attack France.

King Albert II of Belgium to Abdicate

The King of the Belgians, Albert II, has announced his abdication.

In a national televised address, the 79-year-old monarch said he would step down in favour of his son Crown Prince Philippe, 53, on 21 July, Belgium's national day.

He said his health was no longer good enough to fulfil his duties, and it was time to "pass on the torch to the next generation".

He said Philippe was "well prepared" to be his successor.

During Belgium's political deadlock in 2010-11, the king - who was set to mark 20 years on the throne next month - took on the role of mediator.

Read the rest here.

A quiet revolt against Rome is spreading in Belgium

BUIZINGEN, Belgium — Willy Delsaert is a retired railroad employee with dyslexia who practiced intensively before facing the suburban Don Bosco Catholic parish to perform the Sunday Mass rituals he grew up with.

“Who takes this bread and eats,” he murmured, cracking a communion wafer with his wife at his side, “declares a desire for a new world.”

With those words, Mr. Delsaert, 60, and his fellow parishioners are discreetly pioneering a grass-roots movement that defies centuries of Roman Catholic Church doctrine by worshiping and sharing communion without a priest.

Don Bosco is one of about a dozen alternative Catholic churches that have sprouted and grown in the last two years in Dutch-speaking regions of Belgium and the Netherlands. They are an uneasy reaction to a combination of forces: a shortage of priests, the closing of churches, dissatisfaction with Vatican appointments of conservative bishops and, most recently, dismay over cover-ups of sexual abuse by priests.

The churches are called ecclesias, the word derived from the Greek verb for “calling together.” Five were started last year in the Netherlands by Catholics who broke away from their existing parishes, and more are being planned, said Franck Ploum, who helped start an ecclesia in January in Breda, the Netherlands, and is organizing a network conference for the groups in the two countries.

At this sturdy brick church southwest of Brussels, men and women are trained as “conductors.” They preside over Masses and the landmarks of life: weddings and baptisms, funerals and last rites. Church members took charge more than a year ago when their pastor retired without a successor. In Belgium, about two-thirds of clergymen are over 55, and one-third older then 65.

“We are resisting a little bit like Gandhi,” said Johan Veys, a married former priest who performs baptisms and recruits newcomers for other tasks at Don Bosco. “Our intention is not to criticize, but to live correctly. We press onward quietly without a lot of noise. It’s important to have a community where people feel at home and can find peace and inspiration.”

Read the rest here.

Belgium's Cardinal Leonard may face anti-discrimination charges

BRUSSELS — Belgium's Catholic primate Tuesday faced accusations of homophobia and calls to resign for saying AIDS was justly deserved and elderly child-abusing priests should be spared.

Amid mounting uproar, a lawyer for a gay rights group filed a complaint against Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard in the northern city of Bruges after the church leader described gay love as a travesty of nature and AIDS as "a sort of intrinsic justice."

"I believe the archbishop is violating anti-discrimination law and committing slander," lawyer Jean-Marie De Meester said.

Read the rest here.

Belgium moves closer to disunion

(Paris) Sunday's Belgian elections brought an unexpectedly big win for a Flemish separatist.

The result leaves the existence of Belgium as a nation – and its heavy debt load – hanging the balance.

Bart De Wever, a Flemish-speaking Belgian centrist politician who hopes his country will “gradually evaporate,” won an outright victory yesterday. Analysts say Europe could be witnessing a slow motion train collision for Belgium’s fragile political unity – and a broader lesson on the rise of extreme or fringe in European politics.

Read the rest here.
This is very sad.