Our parishes in Belgium are unique in the diocese in including provision for State-funded prison chaplains. We currently have four of them: Egbert van Groesen, working in the Flemish prisons, and Grace West, the Revd Charles Kabera and Eric Sibomana, working in the Brussels and Walloon prisons.

The presidents of the Recognised Religions in Belgium (Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Secularist) recently organised the second in a series of study and media days to raise the profile of faith in the country. The first was the youth conference "Religioptimiste" in the Belgian Senate in 2017. The second was "Jail & Justice" organised in the Prison Saint-Gilles in Brussels on 31 January. The Minister of Justice, Mr Koen Geens, and representatives of the Recognised Religions led a round table with inmates, followed by lunch. These conferences are one way of raising the profile of the work of prison chaplains. Our photos show Jack McDonald (responsible for the prison chaplains) with the prison chaplains' team, and several shots taken during the "Jail & Justice" event.