On 18th March, La Libre published an article by its London correspondent with the views of officers of the Diocese in Europe based in London on the consequences of Brexit for the good functioning of the Diocese. Bishop David and Canon William Gulliford expressed concern about the difficulties which British Anglican clergy now experience in arriving to work in the EU, as well as the difficulties which EU Anglican trainees and clergy experience in arriving to study and work in the UK. Their views reinforce the Central Committee's position that Brexit has brought not a single benefit to Belgium or to Britain; its effects are wholly and entirely negative. The article may be read here:
Lectio Divina during Lent
Annie Bolger, Deacon and Curate at HTB writes,
During the liturgy on Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent, we are invited "in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word." At Holy Trinity in Brussels, we are reading and meditating through lectio divina. What is lectio divina? Rather than reading or studying, lectio divina encourages us to listen and look and imagine. It involves a ‘slow reading’ of the Bible text, allowing the words to speak in a new way. The four steps are reading, reflecting, expressing, and resting. Our senior chaplain created a Bible bookmark which provides a guide to the four movements of lectio and I created a video guide as well. This approach to reading Scripture nicely compliments the beautiful collection of Lent reflections on the lectionary which is authored and compiled by the congregation here. We are finding that the two resources enrich reflection. There are many resources to explain the lectio approach to Scripture online and we encourage you to 'taste and see'!
Video and bookmark available from Annie.
Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Brussels
The Chaplain-President and the Secretary attended a webinar for the presidents of the recognised religions and the laïcité/vrijzinnigheid on 16th March, hosted by the cabinet of Minister Alain Maron of the Brussels Capital Region. Expert explanations were given of the clinical safety of the vaccines and of the various ways in which publicity for the vaccination programme could be distributed. The recognised religions and laïcité/vrijzinnigheid stand full-square behind the campaign for vaccination against covid-19.
Resources in various languages available from Home | (coronavirus.brussels) and two excellent ppt’s here and here.
Overlegorgaan / Concertation
On 11t March, the national council of Christian Churches in Belgium met by zoom to discuss matters of mutual concern. Among other items, on the agenda was a national service to commemorate and pray for those lost in the covid-19 pandemic, set to take place on Thursday 20th May at 19:00 in the Eglise protestante du Musée / Museumkerk in Brussels (which will be advertised). Some emergency measures will still be in force at that time, but the service will be broadcast so that the whole Christian community in Belgium can pray together.
Stations of the Cross
Catriona Laing, Chaplain at Leuven writes,
“I have been co-curating Stations of the Cross with Professor Aaron Rosen (Professor of Religion & Visual Culture Religion Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC) in different cities around the world for five years. Having visited the exhibition in its first incarnation in London in 2016, I was captivated by the way in which the themes evoked by the Stations of the Cross evoke so many of the issues of suffering and despair that we experience on an individual or collective scale today. They also speak into many of the fights for social justice in which we are engaged.” https://www.luceartsandreligion.org/global-2021
Suspended, A. Dorman, 2018, Canterbury Cathedral
Hemelsbreed: divers religieus erfgoed in Vlaanderen
We are most grateful to announce the publication of Hemelsbreed, which gives a clear historical description in Dutch of the "minority" recognised religions in Belgium: Judaism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Islam and Orthodoxy. This impressive book was published through a collaboration of KU Leuven (https://kadoc.kuleuven.be/english) and Parcum (https://www.parcum.be/), with generous financial support from the Flemish government. We are especially grateful to our friends Dr Aaldert Prins and Ms Julie Aerts for their assiduous and professional help in spearheading this fascinating project, which has set down Belgian Anglican history for posterity, a resource valuable long into the future for our parishes and the public.
New NAP 11
New chaplain in Liège
The Revd Guy Diakiese, an Anglican priest from Congo-Kinshasa who has served most recently as assistant priest in The Hague, was licensed as the Anglican chaplain in Liège on Sunday 7th March. Bishop Robert took the service and the Chaplain-President represented the Central Committee. We wish Guy every blessing and happiness as he begins ministry in the exciting and adventurous city of Liège! His staff team includes pastoral support worker Ruth Nivelle, who will soon be licensed as the parish lay-reader (Reader): we thank her for taking such good care of the parish during the vacancy.
Interfaith vaccinations promo campaign
To encourage all people of faith and good will to get vaccinated, the Flemish government has ordered promo films for each lifestance together with virologist Steven van Gught to explain the importance of vaccination and to dispell any religious objections. At this time, the films are only in Dutch. The file is too large to share on the website, but it is available from the YT channel from St John’s Ghent here for chaplaincies to share with members and friends. You will see Stephen Murray featured as our designated representative. There is also a compilation clip.
A new software programme for the future
On 26th February the Chaplain-President and the Secretary attended a session on Persopoint, a new system for encoding data within the Ministry of Justice. This will mean more independence and more direct communication for the religious communities in the future.
Emouna discusses the role of women in the religions
At its day-session on 24th February, the interfaith training-course Emouna Belgique (www.emouna.be ) discussed the question of female authority in the religions represented in the programme (Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism). The Central Committee is grateful for the existence of this interfaith programme, for its courage in addressing matters of sensitivity to religious communities, and for the plans to extend the French-speaking programme to Dutch-speaking Belgians from next year. The Revd Charles Kabera from Holy Trinity Brussels continues to represent the Anglican Church at this year's programme.
Hoofden erediensten/Chefs des cultes
On 19th February, the presidents of the recognised religions met by Zoom to discuss matters of common interest, especially how to organise the forthcoming festivals of Passover, Easter and Eid in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
Lord McDonald
Good news for our Chaplain-President and his family: on 11th February, his older brother Simon was introduced to the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK Parliament, after a distinguished career in British diplomacy.
Both Lord and Canon McDonald are invested in good relations between the UK and the EU, and the Chaplain-President looks forward to talking to his brother about ways in which warm Belgian-British relations can be rebuilt following Brexit.
Bishop Robert's Diocesan Lent Appeal 2021 for Liège
Each Lent, the bishop of the Anglican diocese in Europe organises a financial appeal for a parish or project in the diocese, to which the 280 communities in the diocese (https://europe.anglican.org/where-we-are/church-locations) are encouraged to contribute. This year, Bishop Robert has asked the diocese to contribute to the Eglise anglicane à Liège (https://englishchurch-liege.be/index.html), which has been led in the past couple of years by pastoral support worker Ruth Nivelle and which is awaiting in March the licensing of its new chaplain, the Revd Guy Diakiese, originally from the Congo and most recently curate in St John and St Philip's Anglican Church, Den Haag (https://www.stjohn-stphilip.org/people/guy-diakiese/). Here is a letter from Bishop Robert which explains the situation and which gives information about how to contribute towards the appeal. The Central Committee welcomes Guy warmly to Liège and to our Anglican family in Belgium!
NAP#10
Given the length of the ongoing emergency measures against covid19, Bishop Robert and Bishop Mark have agreed that the Belgian parishes may avail themselves if they wish of the relaxations negotiated by the chefs de culte and the Ministry of Justice on 14th December 2020. In-person services may recommence on Sunday 14th February. The National Anglican Protocol is therefore removed from suspension. It may be read here in French and Dutch.
Online ceremony for the New Year
The annual New Year speech and reception offered by King Philip to Belgian political, military, educational and religious leaders took a new form on 28th January, when he spoke by internet. The Chaplain-President represented the Anglican Church. The King spoke about the necessity of rebuilding Belgian society and economy as the struggle against the covid-19 pandemic begins to be slowly won. It goes without saying that the Central Committee is ready and willing to play its part in this great national endeavour.
Emouna on Holocaust Memorial Day
The Emouna session (https://www.emouna.be/) on Tuesday 27th January coincided with the internationalr emembrance of the Holocaust (https://www.hmd.org.uk/). It was especially appropriate that one of the speakers was Rabbi Marc Neiger from Beth Hillel Synagogue in Brussels (https://www.beth-hillel.org/communaute/cilb/rabbi_neiger), who debated the meaning of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 with Radouane Attiyah (Islam), Dominique Janthial (Catholic Church) and Geert Lorein (Evangelical Church). Anglicanism was represented by the Chaplain-President and by the Revd Charles Kabera (https://www.centralanglican.be/prisons-fr).
Conseil de Dialogue/Dialoograad meets
On Tuesday 26th January, the Conseil de Dialogue/Dialoograad (the permanent consultation between the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the recognised religions) met by Zoom chaired by Minister Van Quickenborne. This body normally meets every six months, but this meeting was in fact its first since the first Corona lockdown was announced in March 2020. The Chaplain-President represented the Anglican Church. On the agenda were the Covid-19 pandemic, the new charter agreed by the federal government and the recognised religions concerning fiscal transparency and independence, and the recent initiative made jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior concerning the physical safety and security of places of worship.
Vaccines against Corona
Since the beginning of the new year, Belgium has begun rolling out its ambitious vaccination plan against Covid-19. Every Belgian and every individual resident in the country will be receiving a personal invitation in the coming weeks and months to present themselves at the appointed vaccination centre. The Central Committee encourages all Anglicans in Belgium to consider getting vaccinated, as this will protect not only ourselves but also our loved ones and all others around us.
Panathlon Wal-Bxl publishes its year book 2020
Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles has published its annual revue for 2020. In it you will also find on p. 4 coverage of the installation of the SportsConsilium last October.
