The Jesuits closed their oldest community in Belgium after 456 years in Liège

In Liège, Belgium, the Society of Jesus’ 456-year-long uninterrupted presence has officially come to an end: the Jesuit order closed its oldest community in the region due to a lack of new members and the aging of its current monks. A farewell Mass was held on June 13, 2026, at the Church of Saint-Christophe, marking the symbolic end of an important chapter in the city’s religious history. This was reported byLife Site News.

The event was presided over by Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville of Liège. About 600 people attended the ceremony, including clergy, former students, and teachers from Catholic colleges associated with the Jesuits.

The order’s leadership made the decision to dissolve the community amid a sharp decline in vocations and a demographic decline within the religious order. According to a source, representatives of the Society of Jesus acknowledge that a shortage of personnel was the key reason for the closure of their historic presence in Liège.

During his homily, Bishop Delville posed a rhetorical question as to whether the cessation of the Jesuits’ activities might be linked to the fact that the faithful “had not prayed enough.” The closure of the community in Belgium fits into a broader European context: earlier, the Jesuits dissolved their last community in the Diocese of Cartagena in Spain, where they had also been active for a long period—since 1871.

The history of the Jesuits in Liège began in 1569, shortly after Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus. Over the centuries, the order played a prominent role in education, evangelization, and the spiritual life of the region, especially during the Counter-Reformation, maintaining its influence despite political and social upheavals.

The educational institutions founded by the Jesuits will continue to operate under the diocese’s administration; however, the order’s spiritual presence in Liège has now come to an end. Thus, the city has lost one of its oldest Catholic monastic traditions, which had existed for nearly five centuries.