In Belgium, the state broadcaster replaced the broadcast of a Catholic Mass with an Islamic ibadat

The Belgian state broadcaster VRT decided to cancel the live broadcast of the traditional Sunday mass of the Roman Catholic Church, replacing it with an Islamic ibadat. This incident deprived Catholic believers of their usual airtime and provoked a debate about the priorities of state policy in the sphere of religious life coverage. This was reported by the Muslim Council of Belgium on Facebook.

The screening of the new program was organized with the support of the Muslim Council of Belgium. According to the organization’s Facebook account, the broadcast was the first of two planned broadcasts of religious events from mosques in 2024. Instead of a live broadcast from a Catholic church, viewers were presented with a pre-recorded Islamic service.

The conflict situation came amid a general cooling of relations between the broadcaster and the Catholic community. Back in 2023, VRT CEO Frederic Delaplace publicly questioned the expediency of further broadcasts of Christian services. The reason for these statements was the release of the documentary series «Godvergeten», which dealt with cases of violence in the Catholic Church. The current decision of the TV channel emphasizes the changes in the country’s media space and raises the question of the equal position of different denominations on the state airwaves.