Yesterday 26th February, the Secretary attended a meeting of the Advisory Commission with other representatives of the lifestances at the directorate-general of the penitentiary institutions. The status of prison chaplains changed in June 2019, and the practical implications and organisation of this change need to be discussed and put into practice. The next meeting is set for June 2020.
Dutch colonialism course at FPTR Brussel
The Chaplain-President is teaching a new bachelor's course at FPTR Brussel this semester, on Dutch colonialism and theology. The course examines the religious aspects of the Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie and the painful relationship between Christian mission and European imperialism.
English Church Liège
Four of our parishes (Liège, Leuven, Ieper and Tervuren) are currently vacant, although we expect to announce the name of the new chaplain in Tervuren very soon. Liège has had a vacancy since the sad and untimely death last year of its beloved long-term chaplain, Paul Yiend. The Chaplain-President was delighted to lead the service there on Sunday 23 February. Ruth Nivelle, the parish lay-reader-in-training, preached the sermon.
Platforme interconvictionnelle/Interconvictioneel Platform
On Thursday 20 February, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary attended the Interconfessional Platform (the meetings of the heads of the recognised religions which organise public conferences) at the Catholic headquarters in Brussels to prepare for the next public conference organised by the recognised religions. Holy Trinity Brussels will host the next meeting of the platform on 2 June.
EMOUNA BE at Holy Trinity Brussels: Religion and Art
It was a great joy for the Chaplain-President and the Secretary to welcome the Emouna Belgique students at Holy Trinity Brussels on Wednesday 19 February for a study-day on "Religion et art". After a tour of the church by John Wilkinson, there were presentations by Marie-Elizabeth van Rijckevorsel, Mohamed Adiouane, Carlo Luyckx and Dalia de Macar on Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish theories of representation in art. The afternoon session was spent in a workshop led by Une Certaine Beauté in which the students painted multiple pictures in mixed-faith groups, amid some hilarity! The day was much appreciated by all.
EMOUNA BE board meeting
On 17 February, the Chaplain-President attended a meeting of the Collège des Fondateurs of Emouna Belgique at the Tibetan Temple in Brussels to discuss progress so far this year in the Emouna interfaith training course.
Ecumenical conference on Synodality
During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, The Venerable Dr Paul Vrolijk, Archdeacon for Northwest Europe en Member of the Central Committee, joined his colleagues from other denominations to discuss the topic of Synodality in the Church. Please click on the link to read the article on the jesuits.eu website.
CAGO
Meanwhile, the Committee for Anglican Religious Education (Comité Anglicaans GodsdienstOnderwijs, CAGO) met in Holy Trinity Brussels to discuss topics like Safeguarding, the website, the inspector-advisor’s report, etc. The next meeting will be the AGM on 29th April.
Malines conversations
On 12 February, the Chaplain-President attended a meeting chaired by Cardinal Josef De Kesel at the Archbishop's Palace Mechelen of the group preparing the centenary celebrations of the Malines Conversations between the Catholic and Anglican Churches.
Anglican Theology course in KU Leuven
On Tuesday 11 February, the Chaplain-President began teaching this year's masters course on Anglican theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at KU Leuven. Students from Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Britain, the USA, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Philippines, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Angola will spend the semester learning more about the English Reformation, Anglican approaches to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, African Anglicanism and Anglican social theology.
Confirmation at Holy Trinity Brussels
The Chaplain-President participated in a Confirmation service at Holy Trinity Brussels on Sunday 9 February, hosted by the mainly Rwandan Anglican community which organises the 14:00 Sunday service there each week. The service was led by Dr Robert Innes, Anglican Bishop in Europe. In the Anglican tradition, Confirmation is the service when Christians confirm personally in public the vows made by their parents and godparents at baptism. Jack had prepared six of the candidates for Confirmation, three from the Anglicaanse kerk Sint Martha en Sint Maria te Leuven and three from the Eglise anglicane à Liège. Congratulations to all concerned!
Church in Wales
This evening on 5th February, the Chaplain-President welcomed two visitors at Holy Trinity Brussels to discuss the future of Welsh-Belgian church relations after Brexit. Canon Carol Wardman, Bishops' Adviser for Church and Society in the Church in Wales (the Anglican province in that country) and the Revd Gethin Rhys, Policy Officer for the Churches Together in Wales, were able to have a free, honest and optimistic discussion about maintaining cross-Channel contact and initiatives.
Emouna Belgique
Today 5th February, the Chaplain-President, accompanied by the Secretary, chaired a whole-day meeting of Emouna Belgique, the new interfaith leaders' training course set up by the Recognised Religions in Belgium. This took place at the Vicariat catholique de Bruxelles. After a warm welcome by Mgr Jean Kockerols, the Catholic bishop for the Brussels Region, the morning was devoted to the theme of "La révélation et la raison" with a paper by Bernard Pottier SJ and with focus-groups discussing contemporary conflicts between reason and revealed religion. Lunch was followed by an afternoon on "La place de la femme dans les religions", with papers by Martine Henao (Catholic), Lydia Lehmann (Evangelical) and Lama Rinchen Palmo (Buddhist). The day was searching, frank and enjoyable. The next Emouna day will take place at Holy Trinity Brussels on 19 February on the theme of "Arts et religion".
Sant'Egidio Interfaith Breakfast
The Chaplain-President accompanied Dr Robert Innes, Anglican Bishop in Europe, to this year's Interfaith Harmony Breakfast, organised at Brussels Airport today by the Community of Sant'Egidio. Interfaith leaders from the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Christian traditions, and from Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, took part. The topic for discussion was the 2019 Document sur la fraternité humaine, pour la paix mondiale et la coexistence commune issued by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Rector of Al-Azhar University Cairo (the Muslim equivalent of Oxford and Cambridge universities for Anglicans or KU Leuven for Catholics). Those present recommitted themselves to active interfaith dialogue and action.
Brexit
The Chaplain-President notes with dismay the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union today.
Prison chaplains
The Anglican prison chaplains met in Brussels today to discuss matters of interest.
New Year reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels
The Chaplain-President attended the New Year party given by HM King Philippe at the Royal Palace today.
Solemn commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Canon Jack McDonald writes:
I was privileged to be asked by Bishop Robert to represent him at the European Parliament's official commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the extermination camp in Auschwitz on 29 January - Bishop Robert was attending the College of Bishops in London and so could not attend himself.
This is a cliché, but sometimes clichés are true: it was a profoundly moving event, begun at a reception and continued in the hemicycle, ably chaired by the president of the EP, David Sassoli. Three survivors of Auschwitz, one now British, the others Dutch and Italian, all very elderly and frail, spoke about their experiences in the death camp. One of them, in a gesture of almost unlimited poignancy, played the cello for us. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, replied in a speech explicitly given as a German citizen which hammered home the message that the EU was born out of the ashes of European culture represented by Auschwitz, and that unambiguous action against racism, antisemitism, xenophobia and discrimination would always be part and parcel of the core work of the EU. The applause was rapturous and heartfelt - I found it difficult to stop applauding after the survivors spoke.
When I looked at the United Kingdom's flag displayed in the hemicycle, which will be taken down permanently on 1 February, I felt an anguish I have never known in my adult life outside family death. Britain is unwise to leave and to continue the struggle against the rising tide of antisemitism alone.
Malines Conversations
On Monday 27th, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary met with Mr Patrick du Bois, a representative of the Archdiocese of Malines-Brussels, to discuss arrangements for the celebration in December 2021 of the centenary of the Malines Conversations between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches.
Central Committee meeting
The Central Committee met on 27th January at HTB. Watch this space for more exciting news about our chaplaincies in the near future.
