Belgium: Church gets new lease of life as a temple of beer
With church attendance falling, many Belgian churches are being given a new lease of life instead of being closed down. In one church in Mechelen, visitors now raise a glass instead of raising a prayer.
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00:00 It's not a place of worship anymore.
00:07 Well, maybe worshipping beer, but that's different.
00:14 This church in the Belgian city of Mechelen is popular with the locals, but not for the
00:19 reason you might think.
00:21 Sixty years ago, Belgium was a very Catholic country.
00:25 At the time, many would not have believed that the St. Joseph Church in Mechelen, near
00:30 Brussels, could ever house something as profane as a microbrewery.
00:34 But surprising as it may be, it's a concept that has gone down very well in the local
00:39 community.
00:40 It's fantastic.
00:41 We are very happy because, well, if you would visit the churches during service, you will
00:48 notice there is hardly anyone in the church anymore for various reasons.
00:53 So if these buildings are vast, please find a new function.
00:58 And this has been a very good initiative.
01:04 So I live here now for 13 years.
01:06 Last thing we did here was a funeral of an aunt of my husband.
01:13 It wasn't a church anymore, but it's still sacred now with a place to come together.
01:19 Once a house of God, today the building is a popular venue for social gatherings and
01:24 beer tastings.
01:25 The beer is brewed here.
01:29 It goes in the tanks and it comes out right there.
01:31 So the production process is also here, so customers get to see it.
01:40 The new incarnation of this church in Mechelen reflects the global decline in attendance
01:45 in the Catholic Church.
01:47 In Belgium alone, the number of Catholics has decreased from 80% of the population in
01:52 the 1950s to an estimated 50% in 2022.
02:03 Seen from the Catholic viewpoint, it's sad that so many churches are desecrated now and
02:11 that they are used for something else.
02:13 But on the other hand, they keep maintaining the buildings instead of demolishing them.
02:21 In a way, maybe it's not practiced anymore by everybody, but it's in your chest.
02:27 You don't want to have it destroyed.
02:29 You still want some respect for it.
02:32 And well, beer and Belgians, that is in our heart and soul, together with football maybe.
02:40 And in 2022, the brewery has become a symbol of Mechelen and quite a tourist attraction.
02:49 It's great.
02:50 It's in an ideal location near to the canal.
02:52 And so we were on a lovely stroll and just popped in here for lunch.
02:55 And it's in a beautiful setting with the church and the history.
02:58 So I think it's amazing.
03:01 These church buildings are so beautiful.
03:03 And I think that if they can be used for kind of communities to get together in whatever
03:10 way that kind of takes shape or form, whether that is for religion or for other purposes,
03:16 then I think that that's a really nice way to kind of keep these buildings living into
03:20 a kind of modern day.
03:23 But this is not just a Belgian phenomenon.
03:26 Right across Europe, churches with a rich history and unique architecture are being
03:31 reborn as community hubs, hotels and dining venues, combining their historical essence
03:37 with a new modern role.
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