Rome Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 10:55 am
Pope Francis visited Laeken Castle on Friday, where he met with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians.
King Philippe ascended the Belgian throne in 2013 and holds the title “Rex Catholicissimus,” or “(Most) Catholic Majesty.”
Queen Mathilde, as a Catholic queen, has the “privilège du blanc,” meaning she is one of only a few women in the world who can wear white, rather than the customary black, when meeting the pope for an official private audience at the Vatican.
The papal privilege is currently granted only to the Catholic royalty from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Monaco, as well as the House of Savoy.
On his first full day in Belgium on Sept. 27, Pope Francis celebrated a morning Mass in private before making his way to the castle.
A mounted guard of honor accompanied him to the main palace entrance, where he was greeted by the Belgian royal family.
The meeting included an exchange of gifts and an opportunity for the pope to sign the Book of Honor, symbolic gestures that reinforce the ties between the Vatican and the Belgian monarchy.
“I am grateful to visit Belgium, a sign and bridge of peace, where different languages, cultures, and peoples live in mutual respect. May God bless Belgium!” the pope wrote in the castle’s Book of Honor.
Nearly 50% of Belgians identify as Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center. The members of the Belgian Royal Family are Catholic but do not have an official role within the Catholic Church in the country.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were married in 1999 in Belgium’s 11th-century Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels and have four children. Their eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.
After the formal reception, the pope met privately with the King and Queen before moving to the castle’s Grand Gallery, where he addressed 300 dignitaries and political authorities, including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
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In the speech, the pope lamented the country’s clerical abuse crisis and advocated for peace.
“There are two calamities at the moment,” Pope Francis said. “The hell of war … which could turn into a world war and a demographic winter. This is why we must be practical. Have children! Have children!”
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.
