Canon Dr Jack McDonald, Adviser to Bishop Robert Innes, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Permanent Representative to the EU, shares his experiences of the Papal visit to Belgium. Further details can be found in his blog here
 

On 27 September, the Chaplain-President was thrilled to represent the Anglicans of Belgium and Bishop Robert at a reception held by the King for those in public life in Belgium at the Palais de Laeken in honour of Pope Francis' visit to Belgium from 27 to 29 September. The King, the Prime Minister and the Pope all made insightful and interesting speeches about the significance of the papal visit, with particular accents on the desperate need for peace in Ukraine and in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, and on the ongoing scandal and shame of clerical sexual abuse occurring in the Church. The frankness and candour of the speeches was both remarkable and helpful. The speeches were preceded by breakfast and followed by a reception at which the chefs de culte were able to catch up, share news and discuss relevant topics with others in public life.

On 29 September, the Chaplain-President and the Vice-President were thrilled to attend as guests of honour the Papal Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in a packed King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, in the presence of the King and Queen and many members of the Royal Family. The atmosphere was lively and festive among the 38,000 people who attended this culmination of the papal visit to Belgium, which saw him meeting the King and Queen, representatives of Belgian public life, representatives of KU Leuven and UCLouvain (sister Catholic universities which celebrate their 600th anniversary in 2025), and also some of the victims of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The Papal Mass had two prominent themes: first was the formal beatification of Blessed Ana de Lobera (called Anne of Jesus), a Carmelite nun and friend of Teresa of Avila who died in Brussels in 1621: Anne of Jesus was a mystic, a visionary for European unity and the foundress of Carmelite houses in Paris, Pontoise, Dijon, Leuven, Mons, Brussels, Antwerp and Krakow; the second theme, reinforced by the Gospel reading from Mark 9, was the need for the Church to root out those who are a cause of scandal to children and the vulnerable, and the Pope's sermon did not mince its words on this occasion about sexual abuse by clergy, to repeated applause from the crowd. The festive occasion was followed by a lunch in the stadium for the clergy and guests in attendance. The Central Committee records its special thanks to Archbishop Luc and to Bruno Spriet, the new Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Belgium, and their immense hard work for this visit.