Evolution of the State funding of religious and non-confessional organisations in Belgium: between policy choices and legal requirements
(2015) Policy within and through Law — p. 175-191, published
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- Since its very inception in 1831, the Belgian Constitution was deliberately designed to grant the Belgian people religious freedom, thereby in effect setting up a religion-neutral State. Since its beginning, the Constitution also formed the basis for the funding system for religious organisations. The article analyses the reason of such a funding and shows that there has always been a strong link between the political choice of recognising a new religion and the diversification of beliefs in Belgium. The Belgian Parliament has tried to take into account the evolution of the society. For instance, it is noteworthy to see that while there were more than 99% of Catholics in Belgium in 1830, today it appears that about 70% of the Belgian inhabitants are Catholics and only few of them go to church. As a result of this change, news religious but also non confessional organisations have been recognised by the legislator – which, as we will see, involves funding – and the Constitution has been amended in 1993. Showing the imbrications between Constitutional Law and Belgian politic choices, the contribution explains how the country has changed from a Catholic-dominated regime into a society characterised by religious diversity, pluralism and multiculturalism. It also tries to analyse how the system of funding of religious and non-confessional organisations could possibly be improved.
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Wattier, S. (2015). Evolution of the State funding of religious and non-confessional organisations in Belgium: between policy choices and legal requirements. In J. De Bruyne, I. Van Hiel & M. de Pooter den ten Broeck (eds.) (ed.), Policy within and through Law (p. p. 175-191). Maklu. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/193468