Belgium: Mass attendance rises almost 4% in a year

The Belgian bishops say it is 'too early to speak of a real change in trend' but that vibrant religious communities in urban areas 'exert additional attraction.'

Mass attendance in Belgium rose by almost 4% from 2023 to 2024, according to figures released Tuesday.

St. Salvator’s Cathedral in Bruges, Belgium. Maros/wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0.

New annual statistics, usually released in November but compiled earlier than scheduled this year, indicated that 173,335 people attended Mass on an average Sunday in 2024, 3.6% m…