2023-06-26 04:05:00
In a few weeks, Luc Terlinden will succeed Cardinal De Kesel as head of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. At 54, he will become the primate of Belgium. Meeting with a man who would not be opposed to the marriage of priests, he who was deeply in love before turning to the Church.
Luc Terlinden is celebrating Mass when we meet him this Sunday morning in Mechelen. A role that made him want to play very early on. “I believe that at the age of six, between firefighter and veterinarian, it happened to me to say that I wanted to become a priest. Afterwards, it’s a bit past, but after the age of 12, all the same, the question came up regularly“, he confides to us.
From college to military service
He first studied economics in Louvain-la-Neuve, then in Leuven to perfect his Dutch. He then did his military service. “I am from a military family. It motivated me to do it, and also to do it as a reserve officer. I may have learned to be more careful, less impulsive“, explains Luc Terlinden.
The Brussels resident became a teacher for a few months, before entering the seminary at the age of 24, then becoming a priest.
His opinion on the marriage of priests and the role of women in the Church
Last Thursday, Pope Francis chose him to succeed Cardinal Josef De Kesel. “The first reaction, I admit that I was a little scared because it’s a very impressive task, it’s a great confidence that is given to me“, reacts Luc Terlinden.
At 54, he will become the youngest primate in Belgium. Among the missions he gives himself: to make more room for women. “With the bishop, women can also be collaborators and not content themselves, as in the past, with secretarial tasks, but much more than that.“, he tells us.
Before entering the church, Luc Terlinden is not afraid to say that he was very much in love and that today he is open to the question of the marriage of priests. “In the churches of the East, they know today married priests and celibate priests and they see a richness there. I believe that we have to gain by welcoming this experience“, he specifies.
This Sunday afternoon, Luc Terlinden ordained three new priests. On September 3, he will be ordained archbishop.
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