Catholic Mass broadcast canceled in Belgium in favor of Islamic service

A recorded Islamic service was aired on Belgian state TV. Photo: Facebook

In Belgium, public broadcaster VRT canceled the live broadcast of a Sunday Mass of the Roman Catholic Church and replaced it with a pre-recorded Islamic service. This was reported by the Muslim Council of Belgium on Facebook.

The broadcast was organized with the support of the Islamic organization and became the first of two mosque-based religious programs planned for this year. As a result, Catholic faithful were left without the traditional Mass broadcast, which was replaced by Islamic content.

VRT’s management had previously questioned the need to air Christian services. In 2023, the company’s CEO, Frédéric Delaplace, made relevant remarks following the release of the documentary series Godvergeten, which focused on abuse cases in the Catholic Church.

The channel’s decision has sparked debate over the place of Catholics in the media landscape and the priorities of state policy in covering religious life.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that an imam had been invited to preach about Islam in a Roman Catholic church in Italy.

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