Call to ‘abolish the clergy’ ignites controversy in Belgium

Monday, March 13th, 2023

A booklet arguing that “to abolish clericalism, we must abolish the clergy” has ignited controversy among Catholics in Belgium.

The proposal was made in a booklet titled “Let’s return the Church to the People of God! Putting an end to clericalism,” authored by nine Catholics working in healthcare for the Diocese of Liège.

The group argued that Christianity had eliminated the distinction between the sacred and the profane, and that priesthood should be abandoned to create more fraternal relationships between priests and lay people.

“In order to suppress clericalism, the clergy must be suppressed,” they said bluntly.

The authors, who include two priests, wrote: “From our point of view, it is a false idea to think of ordaining women and/or married men.

“This idea is based on the need to have a clergy at all costs, even if it means changing the rules of access to the sacred. But this idea will in no way bring new life to the communities and to the Church. We are still in blind clericalism.”

“It is necessary to overturn this organisation and these centuries-old practices to recover a community dynamic closer to the spirit of Jesus Christ.”

The booklet, seen as emblematic of the unease many Belgian Catholics feel towards the priesthood, decried the clergy sex abuse crisis.

However, the publication was met with backlash from another group of laity in the country.

The lay people argue that priesthood is an essential dimension of the Church, and that eliminating priests would lead only to other problems.

“They want to kill the priesthood”

They also pointed out that, assuming it is possible to behave as a child of God and a brother or sister of human beings without a priest, it could lead to a thirst for power among the laity.

The controversy has also led to a petition called “They want to kill the priesthood,” which has been signed by more than 1,700 people.

“Pointing out the clericalism of some priests (described as a generality), the avowed desire of these nine authors is to give the laity the equal mission of dispensing the sacraments,” the petition’s authors wrote.

Jean de Codt, a Belgian magistrate, said he signed the petition to “point out that priesthood is an essential dimension of the Church and that the priest is indispensable for celebrating the Mass, offering the sacrament of reconciliation and blessing marriages”.

Liège bishop Jean-Pierre Delville spoke out against the booklet and its proposal to abolish the clergy in Belgium, “These words are felt to be unjust and unfair by many priests, deacons and lay Christians,” he wrote.

“I perceive them as totally false when I think of the amount of dedication that I have seen in the priests and other pastoral actors of our diocese during the almost 10 years of my episcopate,” Delville added.

“Without denying the scandal of the abuses committed by some, the pastoral shortcomings of others, and the limits of human nature, I am happy to see how much priests and deacons, religious men and women, lay Christians, women and men, are committed to the service of the Church. I thank them for supporting each other in the mission.”