Talk:Roman Catholicism in Belgium
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I think the beer used is excusively abbey made beer. I wonder about the fries...
In medieval times, Belgian abbeys made beer precisely for cult purposes because grapes can't grow at that latitude. Brewing since then became a national tradition, and the Belgian clergy continues to use beer instead of wine in the Eucharistia. The hosts are replaced by potatoes for a similar reason: wheat has been cultivated in Belgium only since the 19th century, and the medieval tradition has been kept alive by the clergy.
[edit] citation needed
I am not sure what needs citation. If it is referring to the remark on Sunday church attendance dropping to well below 10 percent, there are several sources ....all in Dutch / Flemish I am afraid though. In January 06 there was a newspaper research that came up with a church attendance figure of 3.7 percent. This triggered a follow up of the "Centrum voor politicologie" of the KU (Catholic University) Leuven. They published their research (author: Marc Hooghe, title: "kerkpraktijk in vlaanderen", in "ethische Perspectieven") about mid 2006, and came up with a figure of 8 percent for the Flemish speaking part that traditionally has a higher church attendance than the French speaking part.
Will this do as a citation ? Regards