| Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels Mechliniensis-Bruxellensis Mechelen-Brussel (Dutch) Malines-Bruxelles (French) |
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| Location | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Territory | Province of Brabant |
| Ecclesiastical province | Mechelen-Brussel |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 3,635 km2 (1,403 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 01.07.2011) 2 814 246 [1] 1 603 000 (64%) |
| Parishes | 677 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 8 December 1961 |
| Cathedral | St. Rumbold (Mechelen) (Primatial cathedral) |
| Co-cathedral | St. Michael and Gudula (Brussels) |
| Patron saint | St. Rumbold |
| Secular priests | 1966 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Benedict XVI |
| Archbishop | André-Joseph Léonard |
| Suffragans | Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent, Hasselt, Namur, Tournai, Liège |
| Auxiliary Bishop | Jean Kockerols, Jean-Luc Hudsyn, Leon Lemmens |
| Vicars General | Etienne Van Billoen [2] |
| Emeritus Bishops | Godfried Danneels, Paul Lanneau, Jan De Bie |
| Map | |
Territorial extent of the Archidiocese of Mechelen-Brussels |
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| Website | |
| www.kerknet.be/aartsbisdom | |
| Source Annuario Pontificio 2007 | |
Mechelen-Brussels is the Roman Catholic Primatial See in Belgium. It is also the name of the Ecclesiastical Province governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium. The current Archbishop is André-Mutien Léonard, who was installed in January 2010.
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The addition of Brussels to the See's name is actually a fairly recent innovation, as part of a restructuring of the Belgian province adapting to the socio-political reality. Most of the secular province of Antwerp (except the 'arrondissement', i.e. district, of Mechelen itself) made into was one of several new dioceses, thus generally corresponding to the administrative structure of the country. The resulting archdiocese consisted of the province of Brabant in addition to eight municipalities in the province of Antwerp, including Bonheiden, Duffel, Mechelen and Sint-Katelijne-Waver.
The province of Brabant was later split into three areas:
This was not followed by a new break-up into dioceses, but had actually been anticipated by the creation of three vicariates general, often with their own auxiliary bishop, to accommodate the three regional entities.
Such a dual name is not unique, compare for example Eztergom-Budapest, but usually that is just retaining the mere name of the former seat after a de facto full move.
The Dutch name of the See is Mechelen-Brussel. In the diocese's other official language, French, it is called Malines-Bruxelles. In English, Mechelen was traditionally rendered as Malines but nowadays usually Mechelen is maintained or changed into Mechlin, Brussel is Brussels
The duality of the Belgian archbishopric is also reflected in the rare fact that the archbishop has two active co-cathedrals: St. Rumbolds Cathedral in Mechelen and St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels.
The Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels was historically primate of the whole of the Low Countries following the 1559 reorganization creating fifteen dioceses. Over time, its other suffragan 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 concordat with the kingdom of the Belgians stipulates, the country is entitled to at least one cardinal (not a crown cardinal. Rome designates all Belgian bishops freely, in practice from among the Belgian clergy), but it has become a tradition for the incumbent to be raised fairly soon to the cardinal's red, even if there is still a predecessor alive and/or a Belgian cardinal abroad, say in the Roman curia.
The Saxe-Coburg dynasty which rules Belgium is traditionally devoutly Catholic. Other faiths have generally been numerically insignificant except amongst some of the growing immigrant communities in Belgium.
Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard succeeded Cardinal Danneels in January 2010, and will likely become a Cardinal himself in the next consistory. On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, Vatican Information Service (VIS) announced that the Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, had appointed the Reverend Father Jean Kockerols of the clergy of the Archdiocese, dean of Brussels-South, the Reverend Father Jean-Luc Hudsyn, of the clergy of the Archdiocese, episcopal vicar for Brabant Wallon (Brabante Vallone), and the Reverend Father Leon Lemmens of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hasselt, Belgium, and an official at the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches of the Roman Curia, as Auxiliary Bishops-elect of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels to Archbishop Leonard. Auxiliary Bishop-elect Kockerols was born in Brecht, Belgium, in 1957, and was ordained a priest in 1993. Auxiliary Bishop-elect Hudsyn was born in Uccle, Belgium, in 1947, and was ordained a priest in 1972. Auxiliary Bishop-elect Lemmens was born in Boorsem, Belgium, in 1954, and was ordained a priest in 1977.
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