Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels


The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium. It is the Primatial See of Belgium and the centre of the Ecclesiastical Province governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium. It was formed in 1559 and the bishop has a seat in two cathedrals, St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The current Archbishop is Jozef De Kesel, who was installed in November 2015.
, Brussels

Overview

The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels consists of the Province of Brabant in addition to eight municipalities in the Province of Antwerp, including Bonheiden, Duffel, Mechelen and Sint-Katelijne-Waver.
In 1995, the Province of Brabant was later split into three areas:
The Church did not form new dioceses to fit with this, instead three vicariates general were created, with their own auxiliary bishop, to accommodate the three regional entities.

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 called Mechlin or Malines but now it more commonly remains being called Mechelen. Both Brussel and Bruxelles are called Brussels.

Cathedrals

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

Collegiate Churches and Chapters

Former Chapters in the archdiocese.
In the territory of the Diocese important abbeys can be found:
The Archbishop of Mechelen–Brussels was historically primate of the whole of the Low Countries following the 1559 reorganisation 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 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, by tradition, has the Archbishop of Mechelen made a cardinal.
The Archdiocese of Mechelen was renamed the Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels on 8 December 1961 as part of a restructuring of the Catholic dioceses in Belgium. Two new dioceses were created. On the same day, the Diocese of Antwerp was created from areas previously administered by the Archdiocese of Mechelen. Six years later the Diocese of Hasselt was also created. This meant that the new dioceses largely corresponding to the provinces of Belgium. Most of the Catholic Church's presence in the Province of Antwerp was made into the Diocese of Antwerp.
Archbishop André-Joseph Leonard succeeded Cardinal Danneels in January 2010. On 22 February 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed: Fr. Jean Kockerols, Fr. Jean-Luc Hudsyn, and Fr. Leon Lemmens as Auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Upon reaching 75 years Leonard tendered his resignation, which was accepted. In the autumn of 2015 Pope Francis appointed the bishop of Bruges, Jozef De Kesel, as the new archbishop, who was created Cardinal in 2016.

Heraldry

Bishops

Ordinaries

Archbishops of Mechelen

  1. Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle
  2. Joannes Hauchin
  3. Mathias Hovius
  4. Jacobus Boonen
  5. Andreas Creusen
  6. Joannes Wachtendonck
  7. Alphonse de Berghes
  8. Humbertus Guilielmus de Precipiano
  9. Thomas-Philippe d'Alcase
  10. Joannes-Henricus von Franckenberg
  11. Jean-Armand de Bessuéjouls Roquelaure
  12. Dominique-Georges-Frédéric Dufour de Pradt
  13. François Antoine Marie Constantin de Méan et de Beaurieux
  14. Engelbert Sterckx
  15. Victor-Auguste-Isidore Dechamps
  16. Pierre-Lambert Goosens
  17. Desiré-Félicien-François-Joseph Mercier
  18. Jozef-Ernest van Roey

    Archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels

  19. Leo Joseph Suenens, see name changed 2 weeks after 1961 appointment
  20. Godfried Danneels
  21. André-Joseph Léonard
  22. Jozef De Kesel

    Coadjutor Archbishop