A 2006 inquiry in Flanders The Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest ) is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. It occupies the northern part of Belgium and has a surface area of 13,522 km² (44.29% of Belgium), long considered more religious than the Brussels Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ; Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏsəl] (help·info)), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the de facto capital city of the European Union (EU) and the largest urban area in or Wallonia Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonie, Dutch: Wallonië (help·info), Walloon: Waloneye) is the predominantly French-speaking southern region of Belgium. It makes up 55% of the territory of Belgium and includes about 33% of its population. Walloon Region is the name given to the regional government of Wallonia. Most of Wallonia, along with regions in Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a, showed 55% of its inhabitants calling themselves religious while 36% claimed believing that God created the world.^[1]

Status of recognized denominations

Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion, with approximately 75%^{[citation needed]}of the Belgians declaring themselves to be Catholics; however, by 2004 Sunday church attendance was only about 4 to 8% (9% for Flanders only). Catholicism nevertheless remains an important force in society. Until 1998, the Roman Catholic Church published annually key figures such as Sunday mass attendance and the number of baptized children, refer table for an overview 1967 - 2006. In 2006, the church published the mass attendance figure for the Christmas period being 11.5%, and 7 % average weekly (note not only Sunday) mass attandance ^[4]. Since 2000, on a yearly basis sunday church attendance in Belgium drops by 0,5 % whereas this was 1 % previously ^[5] .

Catholicism nevertheless remains an important force in society. The Belgian bishops, for example, sponsor the Catholic University of Leuven The Catholic University of Leuven, or Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. It was founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, and refounded in 1835 after the disruptions of the French Revolutionary Wars. The university split in 1968 to form two universities:, the oldest, largest, and most recognized university in Belgium, although this does not mean that the university adheres to Church doctrine^[6].

The second largest religion practised in Belgium is Islam Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of their one, incomparable God (Arabic: الله‎, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (in Arabic called (3.5%). There are also small minorities of Protestants Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, Orthodox The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church[note 1] and also the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each geographically and, Anglicans Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. Anglicanism forms one of the principal traditions of Christianity, together with Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and Jews Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed. Belgian law officially recognizes those denominations, as well as the secular organizations (Dutch Dutch ( Nederlands ) is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language and over 5 million people as a second language. Most native speakers live in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, with smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies. It is closely related to other: vrijzinnige levensbeschouwelijke organisaties, French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in: organisations laïques). Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an is in the process of being recognized under the secular organization standard. Official recognition means that priests (called "counsellors" within the secular organizations) receive a state stipend, and that parents can choose any recognized denomination to provide religious education to their children if they attend a state school ^[7].

After attaining autonomy from the federal state level in religious matters, the Flemish regional parliament voted a new Flemish regional decree on recognized religious denominations, installing democratically elected church councils for all recognized religious denominations and made them subject to the same administrative rules as local government bodies - with important repercussions as far as financial accounting and open government are concerned. In 2006, however, the Catholic bishops still appointed candidates to the Catholic Church councils because they had not decided on the criteria for eligibility. That is, they were afraid that Catholic candidates who might get elected would be merely baptized Catholics. By 2008, however, the bishops decided that candidates for the election of the church councils had only to prove that they were over 18, a member of the parish church serving the town or village in which they were residents, and that they were baptized Catholic. Thus normal elections took place. ^[8].

Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of South Asia. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded in fifteenth century Punjab on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma also have growing numbers of adherents in Belgium, but are not recognized by the government. This does not deny them the right to practice their religion, merely the right to have government-style elections and regulations on them.

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll Eurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states. The Eurobarometer results are published by the Public Opinion Analysis Sector of the European Commission - Directorate General 2005,^[9]

• 43% of Belgian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".
• 29% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life-force".
• 27% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life-force".

The precise figures are in dispute; however, among some committed people, as it is unclear how many Belgians who say they believe in a God can still be called Christians and how many who call themselves "Christian," but refuse the label "Catholic," have severed all links to the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called. Possibly Catholic pastors keep records of this, but they are unknown. Also in dispute are how many Catholic Belgians have become deists Deism is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this (and religious truth in general) can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without the need for either faith or organized religion. Many Deists reject the notion that God intervenes in human affairs, for example or have joined one of the several small Protestant Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian theological stream which began in Great Britain in the 1730s. Most adherents consider its key characteristics to be: churches. Again, it would be up the respective churches to determine this data. In the United States, for example, some people move in and out of churches without giving up their so-called "home church," the church in which they were baptized. So it is hard to discern the church to which they have an allegiance.

History

After the Spanish military conquest of 1592, and until the re-establishment of religious freedom in 1781 by the Patent of Toleration under Joseph II Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I. He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine (von Habsburg-Lothringen in German). Joseph was a proponent of of Austria Austria /ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/ (German: Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and, Roman Catholicism was the only religion allowed (on penalty of death) in the territories now forming Belgium. However, a small number of Protestant groups managed to survive, at Maria-Horebeke, Dour Dour is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 16,810 inhabitants. The total area is 33.32 km², giving a population density of 505 inhabitants per km², Tournai Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut, Eupen Eupen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border , from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the nature reservation "High Fens" (Ardennes). The town is also the capital of the Euroregion Meuse-Rhine and Hodimont Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy. It is also the center of an agglomeration that includes Dison and Pepinster making it the second biggest in the province and an important regional^[10].

Religion was one of the differences between the almost solidly Roman Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called south and the predominantly Protestant Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation north of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands United Kingdom of the Netherlands [citation needed] (1815–1830) (1839) (Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, French: Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas) was the unofficial name used to refer to a new unified European state created from part of the First French Empire during the Congress of Vienna in 1815. This state, officially called the ", formed in 1815. The union broke up in 1830 when the south seceded to form the Kingdom of Belgium. The picture below schematically depicts how religion played a crucial part in the formation of Belgium. Roman Catholicism in Belgium's first century was socially such a binding factor that it prevailed over the important difference in languages (Dutch versus French). The loss in importance of religion as a social marker across late 20th century Western Europe, explains to a large extent the current centrifugal forces in Belgium, with language differences (increasingly reinforced by a positive feedback Positive feedback, sometimes referred to as "cumulative causation", refers to situations where some effect causes more of itself. Under strong positive feedback, most systems quickly move to a limit state, where the limit is provided by external factors, or into some other new stable state where the positive feedback is somehow negated effect on the media In communication, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data. It is often referred to as synonymous with mass media or news media, but may refer to a single medium used to communicate any data for any purpose) no longer being kept in check by a religious binding factor. If anything, the Catholic Church has acquiesced to these changes by having a Dutch-speaking university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven listen (in short K.U.Leuven) is the Flemish offshoot of the oldest university in the Low Countries which was originally founded in 1425 (see Catholic University of Leuven). Centrally located in the historic town of Leuven in Flanders, the K.U. Leuven is officially a Dutch-speaking institution. With 35,347) and a French-speaking university (Universite Catholique de Louvain).

Until the late 20th century, Roman Catholicism played an important role in Belgian politics. One significant example of this are the so-called "school wars" (Dutch: schoolstrijd, French: guerres scolaires) between the philosophically left-wing parties (Liberals Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the separation of church and state first, Liberals and Socialists Socialism is an economic and political theory based on public or common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources later) and the Catholic (later Christian Democrat) party, which took place between 1879 and 1884 and later between 1954 and 1958. Another important controversy happened in 1990 when the very religious Catholic monarch, King Baudouin I Baudouin of Belgium (7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) reigned as King of the Belgians from 1951 to 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901-1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935). Baudouin is the French form of his name, the form most commonly used outside Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn. Very rarely,, refused to officially ratify with his signature an abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo, resulting in or caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species. In the context of human pregnancies, an abortion induced to preserve the health bill that had already been approved by parliament The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers , French: la Chambre des Représentants, German: die Abgeordnetenkammer) and the Senate (Dutch: Senaat (help·info), French: le Sénat, German: der Senat). The king then asked Prime Minister Wilfried Martens Wilfried Martens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋeɫfɾiːt ˈmɑɾtəns] ; born Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens, 19 April 1936) is a Belgian politician. He was born in Sleidinge (East Flanders). Martens has been Prime Minister nine times: four times from 3 April 1979 to 6 April 1981 and five times from 17 December 1981 to 7 March 1992 and his government to find a solution, which proved novel. The government declared King Baudouin unfit for some days to fulfil his constitutional duties as a monarch, while Government ministers signed the bill in his place^[11]

In 2002, the then officially recognized Protestant denomination, the United Protestant Church of Belgium^[12], itself the result of mergers in 1839, 1969 and 1979 ^[13] (consisting of around 100 member churches, usually with a Calvinist Calvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life. The Reformed tradition was advanced by several theologians such as Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Huldrych Zwingli, but this branch of Christianity bears the name of the French reformer John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and or Methodist Methodism is a movement of Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Communion. His younger brother Charles was instrumental in writing much of the past) and the until then unsubsidized Federal Synod of Protestant and Evangelical churches (600 member churches in 2008, but still not including all evangelical and charismatic groups outside the Catholic tradition) together formed the Administrative Council of the Protestant and Evangelical Religion (ARPEE in Dutch, CACPE in French), which is now the accepted mouthpiece of Protestantism in all three linguistic communities. Based on a 2001 survey conducted by evangelical sources, charismatic and evangelical associations claim a membership of 4% of the Belgian population (a modest percentage of the total population but allegedly a half percentage point more than that of the current Muslim population, as tallied by non-religious sources).^[14].

Freedom of religion

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. However, government officials continued to have the authority to research and monitor religious groups that are not officially recognized. There were a few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Some reports of anti-Semitic or Islamophobic acts are difficult to ascribe to people based on a primary motivation of ethnicity or religious belief, as they are often inextricably linked. Some reports of discrimination against minority religious groups surfaced as well.

See also

• Buddhism in Belgium
• Hinduism in Belgium
• History of the Jews in Belgium
• Islam in Belgium
• Roman Catholicism in Belgium
• Scientology in Belgium
• Sikhism in Belgium Sikhism is a minority religion in Belgium. That said Sikhs play some role in Belgian history. In World War I many Sikhs fought in Belgium. A notable example of this is the First Battle of Ypres where an entire platoon of Dogra Sikhs died
• History of Dutch religion
• Religion by country This article gives an overview about religion by country. Note that the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, will show dual figures; those are the percentage of people who believe in God and the percentage of nominal adherents who celebrate traditional religious holidays although not professing belief in God: Cultural Jews and
• Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg Koekelberg is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. On January 1, 2006 the municipality had a total population of 18,157. The total area is 1.17 km² which gives a population density of 15,486 inhabitants per km²
• Holy Corner, a small Ghent ecumenic neighbourhood with four officially recognized churches

References

1. ^ Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine 22 November 2006 p.14 (The Dutch language term 'gelovig' was translated in the text as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of god in a monotheistic Monotheism is the belief in theology that only one deity exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Druze, the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, as well as the Advaita, Dvaita and sense, and/or in some afterlife The afterlife is the idea that consciousness or the mind continues after the death of the body occurs, by natural or supernatural means. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in an immaterial or spiritual realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.
2. ^ Kerkpraktijk In Vlaanderen Table 1 page 115 PDF document in Dutch
3. ^ newsarticle in dutch describing church attendance in Belgium
4. ^ newsarticle in dutch describing church attendance in Belgium
5. ^ Kerkpraktijk In Vlaanderen Figure 1 page 121 PDF document in Dutch
6. ^ "Wordt KU Leuven U Leuven? - Het Nieuwsblad, 30 June 2007". http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleID=gki1e9vjg.
7. ^ "Pedagogical Centre of the Orthodox Church in Belgium, which trains religious education teachers for state and local council schools". http://www.eglise-orthodoxe.be/NLkerk/07les.html. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
8. ^ Kerkfabriek van Geel-het Punt. "History of the Catholic Geel Church Council since 2005 (in Dutch)". http://www.geelpunt.be/kerkfabriek.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
9. ^ European Union. "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
10. ^ Frank Rooze (inspector of protestant religious education). ""De Reformatie in vogelvlucht" or how Flemish protestantism retreated to the North(in Dutch)". http://www.dick.wursten.be/reformatie_nl.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
11. ^ "Belgian King, Unable to Sign Abortion Law, Takes Day Off". New York Times. April 5, 1990. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DA1F3BF936A35757C0A966958260. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
12. ^ UPCB. "Website of the United Protestant Church of Belgium (in Dutch)". http://www.vpkb.be/. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
13. ^ ARPEE/CACPE. "Preface to the CACPE bylaws, with the history of Protestantism in Belgium". http://cacpe.be/index.php?page=statuts. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
14. ^ WEC. "An evangelical view of the religious situation in Belgium (in Dutch)". http://www.zending.org/Landen/belgie/belgie.htm#godsdienst. Retrieved 2008-04-10.

External links

• Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe
• Kerknet.be : Website of the Roman Catholic Church in Flanders (in Dutch)
• Catho.be : Website of the Roman Catholic Church in French-speaking Belgium (in French)
• Website of one of the German-speaking Roman Catholic parishes
• Website of ARPEE/CACPE, which unites UPCB and the Federal Synod (French and Dutch Protestant/Evangelical)
• Orthodox Church in Belgium (Dutch, French and Greek)
• Web page with the addresses of the Anglican church in Belgium
• Website of the Muslim Executive Council in Belgium (in French and Dutch, some English)
• Website of the Central Jewish Consistoire in Belgium (in French, no English as of 2008-04-10)
• Buddhist union of Belgium website (in Dutch and French)
• Namaskar - Hindu Association of Brussels, Belgium

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