The Archdiocese of MechelenâÂÂBrussels () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is the primatial see of the whole of Belgium. Additionally it is the centre of the local ecclesiastical province governed by the Archbishop of MechelenâÂÂBrussels, which covers the middle of the country corresponding to the now defunct Belgian Province of Brabant and a few other municipalities adjacent to it.
The Archdiocese was formed in 1559, and the bishop has a seat in two cathedrals, St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The current archbishop is Luc Terlinden, who was installed in September 2023.
The Archdiocese of MechelenâÂÂBrussels consists of an area corresponding to the former Province of Brabant in addition to eight municipalities in the Province of Antwerp, including Bonheiden, Duffel, Mechelen and Sint-Katelijne-Waver.
In 1995, then existing Province of Brabant was split into three areas in a Belgian government reorganization:
The Church did not form new dioceses to fit with this; instead, three vicariates general were created, with their own auxiliary bishop, to accommodate the three regional entities.
The name differs in the diocese's two languages; the Dutch name of the see is MechelenâÂÂBrussel and in French, it is called MalinesâÂÂBruxelles.
Mechelen was traditionally called Mechlin or Malines in English, but in recent decades the modern Dutch variant has become the norm.
The duality of the Belgian archbishopric is also reflected in its status with two active co-cathedrals: with St. Rumbold's in Mechelen and St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels.
Former chapters in the archdiocese.
In the territory of the diocese important abbeys can be found:
The Archbishop of Mechelen was historically primate of the whole of the Low Countries following the 1559 reorganisation creating fifteen dioceses. Over time, the two other ecclesiastical provinces broke from Mechelen's primacy. Cambrai was already in France and its kings managed gradually to annex southern French Flanders, and Utrecht and its suffragans in the Dutch republic (later kingdom) would long have their hierarchy suspended because the northern state broke away to be the champion of "anti-papist" Calvinism. The Napoleonic 1801 concordat re-drew the whole map again.
The country, by tradition, has the Archbishop of Mechelen made a cardinal.
The Archdiocese of Mechelen was renamed the Archdiocese of MechelenâÂÂBrussels on 8 December 1961 as part of a restructuring of the Catholic dioceses in Belgium. Two new dioceses were created. On the same day, the Diocese of Antwerp was created from areas previously administered by the Archdiocese of Mechelen. Six years later the Diocese of Hasselt was also created. This meant that the new dioceses largely corresponding to the provinces of Belgium. Most of the Catholic Church's presence in the Province of Antwerp (except in the municipality of Mechelen) was made into the Diocese of Antwerp.
Archbishop André-Joseph Leonard succeeded Cardinal Danneels in January 2010. On 22 February 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Fr. Jean Kockerols, Fr. Jean-Luc Hudsyn, and Fr. Leon Lemmens as auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Upon reaching 75 years Leonard tendered his resignation, which was accepted. In the autumn of 2015 Pope Francis appointed the bishop of Bruges, Jozef De Kesel, as the new archbishop, who was created Cardinal in 2016. De Kesel was succeeded on 3 September 2023 by Luc Terlinden.