Christianity first arrived in the territory known today as Luxembourg in the 4th century from the city of Trier, in present-day Germany. It then spread from Echternach, Luxembourg’s oldest city, thanks to the tireless evangelizing efforts of the Anglo-Saxon missionary Saint Willibrord (658-739), the “Apostle of the Frisians” and the patron saint of the Netherlands, Belgium nd Luxembourg, who founded a Benedictine abbey there. In medieval times, Benedictines, Franciscans and Dominicans played a major role in the religious and cultural life of the County, which later became a Duchy.

In the Middle Ages the Luxembourgish people developed a strong Marian devotion later expressed in particular by the cult to Our Lady "Comforter of the Afflicted" (Consolatrix Afflictorum). In 1666, during the Great Plague, the faithful started to pray to a wooden statue of the Virgin believed to be miraculous in Luxembour’s Limpertsberg district, asking her to heal the sick. The statue was later transferred to the city's Cathedral. Since then, the local Church holds an annual Octave Pilgrimage, known locally as “Oktav”, between the third and fifth Sunday after Easter, which is still today the largest religious event in Luxembourg. The two-week celebration gathers every year tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the region who take part in celebrations and processions.

Until the 19th century Luxembourg didn’t have an episcopal see of its own and for a long time was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Liège (Belgium) in the north, and of the Archdiocese of Trier (Germany), in the south. Then, following the French Revolution, in 1801 it became part of the Diocese of Metz (France). In 1823 a large part of the territory was annexed to that of the Diocese of Namur (Belgium).

The territory finally became autonomous in 1840, when Pope Gregory XVI erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Luxembourg, then elevated to Diocese in 1870, and to Archdiocese in 1988.

The Holy See has entertained diplomatic relations with the Great Duchy of Luxembourg since 1891 when an Apostolic inter-nunciature was established. In 1955 a nunciature was subsequently established.

The Great Duchy was visited in 1985 by Pope Saint John Paul II on the occasion of his Apostolic Journey to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium (11 -21 May 1985)

Luxembourg is a country with a longstanding Christian tradition and the Catholic Church has always been an integral part of the Grand Duchy’s identity and a point of reference for the Luxembourgish people, especially in the most difficult moments of its history, including the two world wars.  Catholicism is still today the religion of the majority in the country. Catholics in the Archdiocese, currently headed by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.I., make up approximately 67 per cent of its population of 672,000 today, followed by Protestants (5 per cent).

However, with increasing secularization and general decline of religious practice, in recent decades the Catholic Church has reduced its influence. Furthermore, Luxembourg has increasingly become a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society with several religious minorities, including Orthodox Christians, a small Jewish community and, since the war in the Balkans in the 1990s, also an increasing Islamic community (2.7 per cent), as well as Buddhists and Hindus.

Since the 4th Luxembourg Diocesan Synod (1972-1981), and abiding by the spirit of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the local Church has tried to respond to the signs of the times by promoting internal renewal, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and new pastoral initiatives to connect with modern culture. The establishment of the Council of Christian Churches in 1997 is part of this effort.

The Constitution of Luxembourg recognizes freedom of worship and expression of religious belief and a series of agreements have established various forms of collaboration with the Catholic Church in the social welfare and educational sectors (Catholic religious teaching in state schools, co-financing of private schools). Bilateral agreements have also been signed to grant public financial support to religious staff.

An overview of the Church in Belgium

Christianity first arrived in the territory of today's Belgium during the 4th century. Its first resident bishop was Saint Servasius who led the Diocese of Tongeren between 346 and 359 AD. In these early years the Christian faith spread in the Gallo-Roman cities thus beginning to define the ecclesiastical geography of the territory with the Diocese of Tongeren-Maastricht-Liège, included in the Ecclesiastical Province of Cologne, Germany, in the east and the Diocese of Cambrai in the centre and the Diocese of Tournai, in the west, both included in the Ecclesiastical Province of Reims, France.

Christianity further took hold in the 7th century thanks to Scottish, Irish, and Anglo-Saxon monks, including Saint Willibrord of Utrecht (658-739), the “Apostle of the Frisians” and the patron saint of the Benelux countries.  

The monks built several monasteries, which soon became important economic, cultural and missionary centres around which many Belgian cities thrived, including Ghent, Mons, Nivelles, Mechelen, Ronse, Leuze, Andenne, St. Hubert, Stavelot, Amay, Saint-Trond, Saint-Ghislain, Soignies. The assassination of Bishop Saint Lambert of Tongeren-Maastricht, in Liège in 705 AD, transformed the then small village into an important place of pilgrimage and a big city where the See of the diocese was later transferred. The city gained further religious and political importance after year 1000. This period witnessed a great religious and cultural effervescence. The influence of the Church on society grew, as testified by the foundation of numerous monasteries and the great mobilization for the first Crusade led by Godfrey of Bouillon. Two bishops of Liège became Popes: Frederick of Lorraine (Stephen IX) and James Pantaléon (Urban IV).

The urban development of Europe between the 12th and 13th centuries coincided with the birth of new religious orders (Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Carmelites) who established themselves in the heart of several Belgian cities. It also saw the diffusion from the Netherlands of the beguinages, semi-monastic communities of lay unmarried or widowed women devoted to prayer and charitable works for the poor. In this context new forms of spirituality flourished and were further enhanced by Sister Hadewijch, Saint Lutgard of Tondres and by Saint Juliana, promoter of the Feast of Corpus Christi, first celebrated in Liège in 1246.  The Belgian Church received new impetus from the "Devotio Moderna", the Catholic spiritual renewal movement that spread from the Netherlands, to Germany, Flanders and Italy between the 14th and 15th centuries.

The foundation of the Catholic University of Louvain dates back to this period. The prestigious academic institution was founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V at the behest of Duke John IV of Brabant, and was to become one of the most important centres of theological thought of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 16th century.

To counter the expansion of the Protestant Reformation, King Philip II of Spain decided to reorganize the Church in the territory, then Spanish Netherlands, and imposed the Inquisition. In 1679 King Charles II requested and obtained from Pope Innocent XI that the region be dedicated to Saint Joseph who would thus become the patron saint of Belgium.

At the end of the 18th century numerous ecclesiastical assets were confiscated or destroyed, first by Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg, as part of his ecclesiastical policy aimed at reducing the authority of the Catholic Church in the Habsburg Empire, and then during the French Revolution.

In 1801, the Concordat signed between the Papacy and Napoleon and the Bulls “Ecclesia Christi” and “Qui Christi Domini” reorganized the Belgian Church prefiguring the future ecclesiastical organization of the independent Kingdom of Belgium. 

Its independence, achieved after the Belgian Revolution in 1830 was recognized by the Papacy thanks to the good offices of Cardinal Engelbert Sterckx, Archbishop of Malines, who managed to convince Pope Gregory XVI to accept its liberal Constitution.

In 1832 the Pope made Belgium a new Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province. In the new political context, Belgian liberal Catholicism inspired by the French Catholic priest and thinker Félicité Robert de La Mennais (1782-1854) emerged and by the end of the century, after a brief period of tension between Church and State (the so-called "School War" - "Guerre scolaire") a new Catholic Party emerged as a leading political force.

After the First World War, between 1920 and 1925 Belgium hosted the historic "Malines Conversations", which for the first time brought together Catholic and Anglican scholars to discuss a series of crucial issues that have divided the two Churches since King Henry VIII’s schism in the 16th century.

In the 1930s a young Catholic priest, Father Edouard Froidure (1899-1971) gave impulse to Belgian social Catholicism by launching a number of social initiatives for underprivileged children and youth, including the Stations de Plein-air and Les Petits Riens. He continued his tireless fight against poverty until his sudden death in 1971.

During the Second World War, the Belgian bishops took a clear stand against collaborationism and pro-Nazi groups in the country.

The Belgian Church played a crucial role at the Second Vatican Council. One of its most influential exponents, Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, Archbishop of Malines-Brussels was a leading voice advocating for reform in the Church. A renowned theologian who had also been rector of Louvain University, he is considered to be a decisive force behind the Conciliar documents ‘Lumen Gentium’ and ‘Gaudium et Spes’.

Belgium was visited twice by Saint John Paul II: the first time from 16 to 21 May, 1985 on the occasion of his Apostolic Journey to Benelux (11-21 May), the second on 3-4 June 1995 for the beatification of the Belgian missionary Father Damiano de Veuster, later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Similarly to other Western countries, over the last six decades Belgian society has witnessed a deep cultural and religious transformation: on the one hand, it has become a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. On the other hand, it is now a secularized society with fewer practicing Catholics, a significant decline in vocations, and more people dissenting from Catholic moral teachings. This is also testified by the legalization of abortion (1990), and the new laws on euthanasia (legal since 2002) and homosexual marriages (legal since 2003).

According to the latest annual report on the Church in Belgium published by the Episcopal Conference (CEB), in 2023 50% of Belgians identified as Catholica, compared to almost 53 percent recorded in 2018. However, data also show that religious practice and church attendance is a lot lower. In 2022, 8.9% of Belgians declared that they regularly attend Mass (compared to around 50 per cent in the 1960s). The decline in religious practice is less pronounced in the capital Brussels, thanks to a strong foreign presence.

At the same time, in recent years the Church in Belgium has recorded a rise of Catholics asking to be “debaptized”. As for participation in baptisms, first communions and confirmations, religious weddings and funerals, the decline trend stopped after the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, pilgrimages have resumed. In 2022, the country's four Marian shrines (Scherpenheuvel, Oostakker, Banneux et Beauraing) totalled 1,270,000 visitors.

The decrease of church attendance has also led to the closure or sale of several Catholic churches. Between 2018 and 2022, 131 churches were closed while, since 2010, 30 churches have also been handed over to other Christian denominations (mainly Orthodox).

Another reason for concern is the aging of religious men and women, due to fewer in vocations. In 2018, in the 278 Flemish-speaking and 101 French-speaking communities between 70 per cent and 80 per cent were over 70 years old.

these challenging changes: it has increased its digital offering, especially since the pandemic, which is proving successful, many volunteers, contribute to its  charitable and pastoral works and lay faithful have responded positively in the 2021-2024 synodal process.

Demographic changes in the Belgian society have also brought about changes within the Catholic Church in the country: over the years, other language communities resulting from immigration have added to the three French-speaking, Flemish and German-speaking communities. In 2021 there were around 150 foreign-speaking Catholic communities (especially Polish, Filipino, and Ukrainian) and about one fifth of the priests, deacons and parish assistants come from abroad (mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony).

The Belgian Catholic Church's commitment to the protection of minors dates back to 1995 when the Bishops established an independent commission tasked with addressing all cases that are no longer prosecutable by civil authorities because statute-limited, and intensified in the wake of the public outcry over the Dutroux case, the country's notorious paedophile arrested in 1996 for kidnapping and raping six girls and teenagers, killing four of them.

In 1997, Cardinal Godfried Daneels, then Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, established a hotline for the victims and in 2000 another commission was established to deal with complaints of sexual abuse by priests.

After the Vangheluwe case, the bishop of Bruges who resigned in 2010 after admitting to having abused his young nephew for over a dozen years, the bishops gave a further decisive impulse to the fight against abuse in the Church. After the scandal broke out, the Bishops published a pastoral letter in which they admitted that Church leaders in the country had not adequately addressed the problem,

acknowledged its grave consequences, apologized to the victims and pleaded  for "a culture of truth and justice". Following the Vangheluwe case the bishops announced more stringent criteria in the selection of candidates to the priesthood and stricter measures to counter abuses of power.

In 2016, the bishops issued their first report on cases of sexual abuse in the Belgian Church based on the testimonies of victims collected between 2012-2015 in the Church’s listening centres. 80 percent of the complaints referred to cases that had happened more than 30 years earlier. 71 percent of the victims were men, and the abusers were practically always (in 95 percent of cases) men. On that occasion the bishops reiterated their total commitment to support the victims and prevent abuse.

The Belgian Church once again came under public scrutiny in December 2023, after the broadcast of a podcast by the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws entitled “Kinderen van de Kerk” (“Children of the Church”) with interviews with mothers and their children given up for adoption by Catholic institutions in exchange of large sums of money.  Again, the bishops, who had already apologized in 2015 in Parliament, expressed their compassion for the pain and trauma of the victims, and called for an independent investigation into the conditions described by the women involved.