List of Catholic dioceses in Belgium explained

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 as military vicariate in 1957, and elevated to a military ordinariate in 1986.^[2]

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
		Province of Antwerp (except for 9 municipalities)	Cathedral of Our Lady (1559-1801; since 1961)^[6]	Johan Bonny (2009)^[7]	1961 (restored)^[8]
		Province of West Flanders	St. Salvator's Cathedral (since 1834)^[9]	Lodewijk Aerts (2016)	1834 (restored)^[10]
		Province of Limburg	St. Quentin's Cathedral (since 1967)^[11]	Patrick Hoogmartens (2004)	1967^[12]
		Province of East Flanders + Zwijndrecht	St. Bavo's Cathedral (since 1559)^[13]	Lode Van Hecke O.C.S.O (2020)	1559^[14]
		Province of Liège	St. Paul's Cathedral (since 1794)^[15]	Jean-Pierre Delville (2013)^[16]	4th century (Civitas Tungrorum)^[17]
		Mechelen, 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 and Luxembourg	St Aubin's Cathedral	Pierre Warin	1559
		Hainaut	Cathedral of Our Lady	Guy Harpigny	1146

Exempt (directly subject to the Holy See)

See also

• List of Catholic churches in Belgium

External links

• Catholic-Hierarchy entry.
• GCatholic.org.

Notes and References

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