After Francis' visit: Belgian bishops call for special collection

Brusseles - One of his last trips took Pope Francis to Belgium last year. It was the first papal visit to the small country in decades. But the memories of the trip are not all positive.

Published on 03.09.2025 at 11:02 –

Funding gap after the Pope's visit: In a letter to the parishes, the Belgian bishops have announced a special collection for 20 and 21 September. This was reported by the Belgian broadcaster"VRT Nieuws" on Tuesday. "A further 800,000 euros still need to be raised", the letter states.

According to the report, the visit of the now deceased head of the church last September was mainly financed by donations from the faithful. This raised around two million euros. For example, it was possible to rent the King Baudouin Stadium for the final service and make it accessible free of charge. However, the money was not enough to cover the entire costs.

Pope Francis visited Luxembourg and Belgium from 26 to 29 September. The occasion was the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic universities of Leuven (Leuven) and Lauvain-La-Neuve. The Louvain speech had caused some discussion. In it, Francis spoke about the fundamental difference between women and men and stated, among other things, that it is "ugly when a woman wants to make herself a man. A woman is a woman." The university subsequently distanced itself from the speech, with the Pope complaining of unfair treatment. (cbr)