List of Catholic dioceses in Belgium

A diocese, also known as a bishopric, is an administrative unit under the supervision of a bishop, of which there are currently 8 in the Belgian Catholic Church. The 8 dioceses are divided into 1 ecclesiastical province and 7 suffragan dioceses, but also one military ordinariate,^[1] which was created a military vicariate in 1957, but elevated to a military ordinariate in 1986. Its seat is located at the Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenberg.^[2]

Roman Catholic dioceses in Belgium

Since December 1961, following the restructuring of the Catholic dioceses in Belgium, the Archdiocese of Mechelen was renamed the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. This newly created archdiocese is the primatial see of Belgium and the centre of the ecclesiastical province governed by the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium.^[3]

There are also a few former Roman Catholic dioceses in Belgium, including the Dioceses of Eupen-Malmedy and Ypres, but also the ancient Diocese of Thérouanne. The latter was split between the Dioceses of Saint-Omer, Boulogne and Ypres after the Council of Trent's reform of sees.

In Belgium, most dioceses coincide with a province, but there are a few exceptions.

List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Belgium

Ecclesiastical Province of Mechelen-Brussels

Diocese	Coat of arms	Territory	Cathedral^[4]	Bishop (consecration)^[5]	Founded
Antwerp		Province of Antwerp (except for 9 municipalities)	Cathedral of Our Lady (1559-1801; since 1961)^[6]	Johan Bonny (2009)^[7]	1961 (restored)^[8]
Bruges		Province of West Flanders	St. Salvator's Cathedral (since 1834)^[9]	Lodewijk Aerts (2016)	1834 (restored)^[10]
Hasselt		Province of Limburg	St. Quentin's Cathedral (since 1967)^[11]	Patrick Hoogmartens (2004)	1967^[12]
Ghent		Province of East Flanders + Zwijndrecht	St. Bavo's Cathedral (since 1559)^[13]	Lode Van Hecke O.C.S.O (2020)	1559^[14]
Liège		Province of Liège	St. Paul's Cathedral (since 1794)^[15]	Jean-Pierre Delville (2013)^[16]	4th century (Civitas Tungrorum)^[17]
Mechelen-Brussels		Mechelen, the Brussels-Capital Region, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant	St. Rumbold (Mechelen) (Primatial cathedral) St. Michael and Gudula (Brussels) (Co-cathedral)	Luc Terlinden (2023)^[18]	1559
Namur		Namur and Luxembourg	St Aubin's Cathedral	Pierre Warin	1559
Tournai		Hainaut	Cathedral of Our Lady	Guy Harpigny	1146

See also

• List of Catholic churches in Belgium

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy entry.
• GCatholic.org.

References

1. "Belgium - All Dioceses". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
2. "Military Ordianariate of Bisdom bij de Krijgsmacht". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
3. "Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels {Malines-Brussels}". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
4. "Cathedrals". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
5. "De Bisschoppenconferentie van België". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
6. "De Kathedraal". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
7. "Benoît XVI a nommé Mgr Johan Bonny nouvel évêque pour le diocèse d'Anvers (Belgique)". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
8. "Bisdom Antwerpen". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
9. "Sint-Salvatorskathedraal". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
10. "Bisdom Brugge". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
11. "Sint-Quintinuskerk - Sint-Quintinuskathedraal". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
12. "Bisdom Hasselt". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
13. "Sint-Baafskathedraal". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
14. "Bisdom Gent". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
15. "Cathédrale Saint-Paul de Liège". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
16. "Jean-Pierre Delville, nouvel évêque de Liège: "C'est une surprise" (vidéos)". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
17. "Bisdom Luik". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
18. Decroubele, Peter (3 September 2023). "Luc Terlinden, de nieuwe aartsbisschop met een bijna onmogelijke missie". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 September 2023.