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Belgium - Religion

Belgium is a Catholic country. Some historians have argued that the strong Roman Catholic tradition of the Flemish population was responsible for its support of the Belgian independence movement against the Protestant king to the Netherland. Most Belgians are baptized Roman Catholics, and even if they are non-practicing, they must confront the values and attitudes of Catholicism in their daily lives. Organizations promoting laicism, for example, have felt the need to develop rites of passage similar to those of Catholicism. Many schools, moreover, are Catholic, and the values that seem to prevail in the society can perhaps be traced to its Catholic traditions.

The importance of the Catholic church was still an issue because of the segment of the population that historically had been anticlerical, opposing the church on political and philosophical grounds. It was also an issue because of the widespread belief in the church's loss of influence. The decline in attendance at mass and acceptance of dogma must be weighed against the large membership in Catholic organizations and the Catholic symbols, concepts, and rites of passage shared by many Belgians.

The government does not collect or publish statistics on religious affiliation. According to a March 2010 survey appearing in Le Soir newspaper, 60 percent of the population identifies itself as Roman Catholic, 4 percent as Muslim, 2 percent as Protestant, 1 percent as Jewish, 2 percent as belonging to other religious groups, and 31 percent as nonbelievers. According to a sociological survey in November 2010, Muslims constitute 5.8 percent of the population.

A 2007 report by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) gave the number of adherents of the government-recognized philosophical communities as follows: Catholicism, 4.8 million; Islam, 400,000; Protestantism, 132,000; Orthodox, 70,000; Judaism, 50,000; Anglicanism, 10,800 (counted separately from Protestantism by the government); and organized secular humanism, 110,000. According to the report, the larger nonrecognized religious groups, who do not receive funds from the state, include Jehovah's Witnesses with 23,701 baptized and 50,000 "churchgoers"; independent Protestant congregations, 10,000; Buddhists, 10,000; members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 4,000; Seventh-day Adventists, 2,000; Hindus, 5,000; Sikhs, 3,000; Hare Krishnas, 1,500; and the Church of Scientology, 200 to 300. A 2008 Catholic University of Leuven report estimated that 7 percent of the Catholic population regularly attended religious services. Fifty-seven percent of children born in the country were baptized, 26.7 percent of couples opted for a religious marriage, and 61 percent of funerals included religious services.

The government accords "recognized" status to Catholicism, Protestantism (including evangelicals and Pentecostals), Judaism, Anglicanism (separately from other Protestant groups), Islam, and Orthodox (Greek and Russian) Christianity. Representative bodies for these religious groups receive subsidies from the federal, regional, and local governments. The government also supports the freedom to participate in secular organizations. These secular humanist groups serve as a seventh recognized philosophical community, and their organizing body, the Central Council of Non-Religious Philosophical Communities of Belgium, receives funds and benefits similar to those accorded other recognized religious groups.

The federal government and parliament have responsibility for recognizing religious groups and paying the wages and pensions of their ministers. The federal government also funds the administration of secular humanism. As a result of constitutional reform enacted in 2001, federal authorities devolved responsibility for ensuring religious instruction, financial accountability of religious groups, and religious buildings to other levels of government. For example, parish operations and the upkeep of churches fall under the supervision of municipal authorities; the provinces sustain the cost of mosques. At the same time, the Flemish, Francophone, and German-language community governments pay religious teacher salaries and the costs of religious public broadcasting.

Broadly speaking, religious groups received approximately 645 million euros ($851 million) from the government in 2009. This amount can be divided into three categories: first, 240 million euros ($316 million) for subsidies, salaries, deficit coverage, and renovation work on religious buildings; second, 80 million euros ($106 million) for retirement allowances, work on "protected" buildings used for religious purposes, and tax waivers; and finally, 325 million euros ($429 million) for the cost of religious education at schools. Within the first category, the main beneficiary is the Catholic Church, receiving an estimated 80 percent of the total.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the federal government paid salaries to 2,712 Catholic priests, 118 Protestant/Evangelical and 12 Anglican ministers, 33 rabbis, 48 Orthodox priests, 285 lay consultants, and 23 Muslim imams, including clerical staff of the Muslim Executive.

The government applies five criteria in deciding whether to grant recognition to a religious group: the religion must have a structure or hierarchy; the group must have a sufficient number of members; the religion must have existed in the country for a long period of time; it must offer social value to the public; and it must abide by the laws of the state and respect public order. These criteria are not listed in decrees or laws, and the government does not formally define "sufficient," "long period of time," or "social value." A religious group seeking official recognition applies to the Ministry of Justice, which then conducts a thorough review before recommending approval or rejection. Final approval of recognized status is the sole responsibility of parliament; however, parliament generally accepts the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice.

The constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom and, in practice, the government generally enforced these protections; however, conditions were not optimal for groups regarded as "sects" or "cults."

As a result of a 1997 parliamentary committee report, parliament passed a law establishing two bodies: a group monitoring "harmful sects" and an interagency coordinating group on "harmful sects." The first body, the Center for Information and Advice on Harmful Sectarian Organizations (CIAOSN), collects publicly available information on a wide range of religious and philosophical groups, provides information to the public, and, upon request, gives advice to authorities on sectarian organizations. The CIAOSN's library is open to the public and contains information on religion in general as well as on specific religious groups, including information provided by those groups. The CIAOSN has the authority to share with the public any information it collects on religious sects; however, it does not have the authority to provide assessments of individual sectarian organizations to the general public. Despite its name, regulations prohibit it from categorizing any particular group as harmful. Unlike the Anti-Racism Center, this body cannot initiate litigation.

The second body established by parliament, the Interagency Coordination Group (ICG) on "harmful sects," deals primarily with confidential material and works with legal and security institutions of the government to coordinate government policy. Pursuant to a 2005 royal decree, the ICG's composition was changed to include representatives from the College of Prosecutors General; Federal Prosecuting Office; Federal Police; State Security; Defense Intelligence; and the justice, interior, foreign, and finance ministries. The ICG's executive board meets quarterly and reports to the full group. It produces no publicly available reports. The government designated the federal prosecutor and a magistrate in each of the 27 judicial districts to monitor cases involving sects.