The many polemics surrounding the Pope’s visit to Belgium on 26-29th September showed just how problematic the blurring of the lines between head of state and religious leader can be. Whether on the place of women in society1, Belgian legislation on voluntary termination of pregnancy2, the superiority of divine justice over civil justice3 or criticism of scientific rationality4, the Pope called into question the foundations of our democratic system, interfering in an unacceptable way in the Belgian political debate. This culminated in the proposed beatification of King Baudouin, who was responsible for a constitutional crisis when he refused to sign the democratically passed law allowing termination of pregnancy to 12 weeks.
For the Centre d’Action Laïque, this appalling trip must not go unchallenged. The Vatican is responsible for the Pope’s remarks, but Belgium is responsible for the signals it is sending out by confusing the State and the Catholic religion. The Centre d’Action Laïque believes that it is high time to clarify the situation by carrying out three reforms to put an end to practices from another era that reflect an undue privilege for the Catholic Church.
1) Revision of the order of protocol
The order of protocol determines the precedence of dignitaries in relation to the King in official ceremonies. In Belgium, the order of protocol places the cardinals just after the royal family, before the presidents of assemblies, the Prime Minister and a host of other officials.
The Centre d’Action Laïque is calling for the order of protocol to be revised to relegate the dignitaries of the Catholic Church to a much more modest position, behind the representatives of all the branches of government.
2) Revision of the diplomatic list
The Belgian diplomatic list traditionally places the Apostolic Nuncio (the Vatican ambassador) in first place. All other ambassadors are then placed according to their order of arrival in Belgium.
This tradition is both obsolete and shocking: it gives precedence to the ambassador of a theocratic state that does not hesitate to interfere in the public affairs of our country.
The Centre d’Action Laïque is calling for the diplomatic list to be revised to abolish this tradition and place the apostolic nuncio on the list according to the date of his accreditation in Belgium.
3) The abolition of the Te Deum
Te Deums are masses traditionally celebrated on National Day (21 July) and King’s Day (15 November). They are attended by the Royal Family and representatives of the various components of the State are invited to attend. The Te Deum is therefore an official Catholic religious ceremony.
These ceremonies belong to the past. They give the Catholic Church de facto primacy over other religious or philosophical convictions. They give the impression that Catholicism is a state religion.
The Centre d’Action Laïque is calling for the law to prohibit public authorities from directly or indirectly organising official ceremonies originating from any confessional or non-confessional philosophical conception.
With these reforms, Belgium will demonstrate that it respects everyone’s convictions, that pluralism is guaranteed and that no philosophical current has primacy over another. This is nothing other than the implementation of the principle of neutrality, a principle with constitutional value in Belgium, which guarantees living together in trust and freedom.
(Press release of the CAL, 30th September 2024)
- Pope Francis, at the UCL (Catholic University of Louvain), 28 September: “Woman is fruitful welcome, care, vital devotion. This is why women are more important than men, but it is wrong for women to want to be men” ↩︎
- Pope Francis, Laeken Palace, 28 September: “murderous laws” and on the plane back to Rome, 29 September: “doctors performing abortions are “hired killers”. ↩︎
- Pope Francis, Koekelberg Basilica, 28 September: “God’s justice is superior” ↩︎
- Pope Francis, KU Leuven (Catholic University Leuven), 27 September: “In university contexts and elsewhere, when we talk about truth, we often fall into a rationalist attitude according to which only what we can measure, experience, touch can be considered true, as if life were reduced solely to matter and what is visible” ↩︎
