US bishops help preserve Catholic Identity of closed Belgian Seminary
August 23, 2011: The U.S. bishops have entrusted their recently closed Belgian seminary
to the local Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven in order to preserve the Catholic identity
of the 19th century building. The American College of the Immaculate Conception
in Belgium closed in June of this year because of the small number of seminarians
and a lack of available priests for faculty. Archbishop Timothy Dolan, head of the
U.S. bishops' conference and archbishop of New York, praised the new agreement on
Aug. 22 as a step forward in the relationship between Belgian and American Catholics.
“The American College has provided a major contribution to the life of the Catholic
Church. With this agreement, we are able to respond to the changing needs of our faithful
and those who serve them.” The bishops founded the college in 1857 to train young
European men to serve as missionary priests in North America and to offer American
seminarians the philosophical and theological riches of Europe’s oldest Catholic university,
located in Leuven. Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Mechelen-Brussel, president
of the Belgian Bishops Conference, welcomed the agreement. “We are pleased to see
that the historical link between the Church in Belgium and the Church in the United
States can continue, albeit in a new form,” he said. “Worldwide collaboration within
the Church is our strength and enriches our own experiences.”