Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels

Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels Mechliniensis-Bruxellensis Mechelen-Brussel (Dutch) Malines-Bruxelles (French)
St. Rumbold's Cathedral, Mechelen
Location
Country	Belgium
Territory	Mechelen, the Brussels-Capital Region, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant
Ecclesiastical province	Mechelen-Brussel
Coordinates	51°1′48.4″N 4°28′43.6″E / 51.030111°N 4.478778°E / 51.030111; 4.478778Coordinates: 51°1′48.4″N 4°28′43.6″E / 51.030111°N 4.478778°E / 51.030111; 4.478778
Statistics
Area	3,700 km2 (1,400 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 2,815,842 [1] 1,801,000 (64%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin 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	1966
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	André-Joseph Léonard
Suffragans	Antwerp Brugge Ghent Hasselt Namur Tournai Liège
Auxiliary Bishops	Jean Kockerols Jean-Luc Hudsyn Leon Lemmens
Vicar General	Etienne Van Billoen [2]
Emeritus Bishops	Godfried Danneels Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus (1979-2010) Paul Lanneau Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1987-2009) Jan De Bie Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1982-2002)
Map
Territorial extent of the Archidiocese of Mechelen-Brussels
Website
www.kerknet.be/aartsbisdom
Source Annuario Pontificio 2007

St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels

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.

Dual name

The addition of Brussels to the See's name is actually a fairly recent innovation, as part of a restructuring of the Belgian ecclesiastical province adapting to the socio-political reality of modern Belgium. Several new dioceses were created, largely corresponding to the secular provinces of Belgium at that point, thus more closely aligning the religious structure and administrative structure of the country. Most of the secular province of Antwerp (except the 'arrondissement', i.e. district, of Mechelen itself) was made into the Diocese of Antwerp. The resulting Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels 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:

• A Dutch-speaking province Flemish Brabant
• The bilingual Brussels Capital Region
• A French-speaking province Brabant Wallon

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 Esztergom-Budapest, but usually that is just retaining the mere name of the former seat after a de facto full move.

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 rendered as Malines but nowadays usually Mechelen is maintained or changed into Mechlin. Both Brussel and Bruxelles' are 'Brussels'.

Cathedrals

The duality of the Belgian archbishopric is also reflected in the rare fact that the archbishop has two active co-cathedrals: St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels.

History

The Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels was historically primate of the whole of the Low Countries following the 1559 reorganization 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 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.

Kings Albert I and Baudouin were devoutly Catholic. Other faiths have generally been numerically insignificant except amongst some of the growing immigrant communities in Belgium.

Archbishop André-Joseph Leonard succeeded Cardinal Danneels in January 2010, and will likely become a Cardinal himself. On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, Vatican Information Service (VIS) announced that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Father Jean Kockerols of the clergy of the Archdiocese, dean of Brussels-South, Father Jean-Luc Hudsyn, of the clergy of the Archdiocese, episcopal vicar for Brabant Wallon (Brabante Vallone), and 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.

Archbishops

References

External links

• "Dioceses in Belgium [Catholic-Hierarchy]". catholic-hierarchy.org. 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012. 
•  "Mechlin". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.