Belgium: The Church publishes its seventh annual report – ZENIT

Press release

12/18/2024 – The seventh edition of the annual report of the Catholic Church in Belgium is published today. The report looks at the calendar year 2023 and focuses in particular on the contribution of volunteers in parishes and what the Church offers to young believers or those seeking meaning.

Parishes can count on 3.5 million volunteer hours per year

The Catholic Church can count on many volunteers for its local operations in parishes. To better evaluate the number of volunteer hours carried out in parishes, the Conference of Bishops of Belgium commissioned a study. This revealed thatin 2023, a total of 3,574,925 volunteer hours were carried out in parishes.

The total number of hours volunteered in the Church (for the areas covered by the study) corresponds to 2,103 full-time equivalents. However, much volunteering also takes place outside the parish structures of the Catholic Church.

The statistical survey identified 76,397 volunteers active in pastoral services within parishes. This corresponds to 34 volunteers for every person paid by the federal government as a minister of religion.

On a monthly basis, these volunteers carry out 297,910 hours of volunteeringwhich represents an average of 3.9 hours per volunteer per month. Despite these impressive numbers, some parishes report a need for volunteers in the field.

The Church supports young people’s vibrant and hopeful faith experience

During the visit of Pope Francis to our country at the end of September, the youth festival Hope Happening took place, in addition to the official program. Such an initiative is not a one-off event. With a permanent range of activities aimed at young people, the Catholic Church – at global, national but also local level – responds to the demand for meaning and spirituality strongly felt by young people. The Church’s offer in this area is very varied, and always testifies to a living and hopeful experience of faith.

World Youth Days, organized every two or three years in a large metropolis, are the most significant in this regard. Every year, a gathering of young Catholics is also organized in each diocese in the world. In Belgium, these are the annual gatherings “JMJ Belgium Festival” and “Sterren van Hoop”, which last year mobilized some 2,000 young people around pilgrim marches, workshops, concerts and liturgical celebrations.

Furthermore, every two to three years, a large-scale international event is organized in a metropolis. In 2023, it was in Lisbon, with 2,000 Belgian participants out of a total of 1.5 million participants. In 2027, the South Korean capital Seoul will host the next World Youth Day.

In addition to these large-scale and sometimes even global events, a lot is happening at the diocesan and local level. This proximity allows young people to exchange experiences with other believers in an accessible and familiar environment. This happens both during playful moments and on more discreet occasions. For their part, schools can also be involved in these proposals for young people.