Pastors in a Belgian province have been asked to include an episcopal delegate in the Eucharistic Prayer at Masses.
A Nov. 6 archdiocesan memo to clergy in the vicariate of Brabant Walloon, a French-speaking area south of the capital, Brussels, proposed naming Rebecca Alsberge alongside the pope and the local bishop in the Eucharistic Prayer.
In Belgium, an episcopal delegate is a territorial coordinator responsible for a region of a diocese. The position is called in some countries a regional vicar — though the term “vicar” is reserved for reference to a priest or bishop.
The memo presented several suggestions for how Alsberge, who took up the role in January, could be included in the prayer at the heart of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which follows the Liturgy of the Word at Masses.
For Eucharistic Prayer I, it proposed the wording “we present them in union with your servant, our Pope N., our Bishop N., our episcopal delegate N., and all those who faithfully keep the Catholic faith received from the Apostles.”
The memo said the recommendations were given “in consultation” with Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Mechelen-Brussels. It is unclear whether the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship, which is responsible for regulation of the liturgy worldwide, was also consulted.
The General Instruction on the Roman Missal, the official guide to the celebration of Mass, describes the Eucharistic Prayer as “the high point of the whole celebration.” It says that in addition to mentioning the pope and diocesan bishop in the Eucharistic Prayer, the celebrant may also mention a coadjutor bishop and auxiliary bishops, “but not other bishops who happen to be present.”
Terlinden appointed Alsberge, a mother of four, as episcopal delegate of the vicariate of Brabant Walloon on Dec. 19, 2023. The bishop took the step following the retirement of auxiliary Bishop Jean-Luc Hudsyn, who had overseen the vicariate since 2011.
A spokesman said at the time that Terlinden had taken the decision “with a view to the gradual development of new and complementary ministries in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels,” and after consultation with the council of the vicariate of Walloon Brabant, the presbyteral council, and the college of deans.
The spokesman noted that Alsberge was an assistant to Bishop Hudsyn, responsible for supporting the vicariate’s “pastoral units.” She began a five-year term as episcopal delegate Jan. 1, 2024.
Terlinden also appointed the dean Fr. Alain de Maere as Alsberge’s deputy for a five-year term, with responsibility for ordained ministers.
“These appointments seek to fit into the vision of a synodal and missionary Church developed by our Pope Francis,” the spokesman said.
Following her nomination, Alsberge said “my tasks will be the same as those of Bishop Hudsyn,” except for liturgical duties.
The Nov. 6 memo to clergy offered “indications” for the Eucharistic Prayer and Masses in the episcopal delegate’s presence, “in a desire for coherence within the vicariate.”
“With regard to the Eucharistic Prayer, the indications take into account the repeated request from priests and faithful to be able to pray together for their new vicar. We will therefore add either her title or her title and first name to the Eucharistic Prayer,” said the letter, signed by Alsberge and de Maere.
“For celebrations in which the delegate will be present, we will give you some guidelines on how she should speak and her physical place in the assembly. These guidelines should be completed by discussing them with her before she visits your parish or pastoral unit.”
The guidelines suggested Alsberge could speak after the greeting at the start of Mass, after the proclamation of the Gospel, or before the blessing at the end of Mass.
A report published in May by Cathobel.be, the official website of the French-speaking Catholic Church in Belgium, suggested that Alsberge had offered a “homily in two voices” during a visit to a parish in Blocry, alongside the priest Fr. Charles Delhez. An accompanying photograph showed her speaking standing beside Delhez.
The Nov. 6 memo also suggested that during the entrance procession, the episcopal delegate should stand beside the presiding priest and then be seated in the front row of the church. Following the recessional, she should greet parishioners alongside the priest, it said.
The guidelines encouraged the priest to offer the sign of peace to the delegate “while going to give the peace to the assembly.”
The memo suggested changes to the Eucharistic Prayer “to broaden the Church’s prayer to include the new mission entrusted to the episcopal delegate.”
It said that Eucharistic Prayer II served as a point of reference, with its mention — in the French translation of the Order of Mass — of “all those who are responsible for your people.”
It suggested that Eucharistic Prayer II should read: “Remember, Lord, your Church spread throughout the world: Make it grow in your charity in union with our Pope N., our Bishop N., and all the bishops, priests, and deacons, our episcopal delegate N., and all those who are responsible for your people.”
A screenshot of the memo was posted anonymously on social media Nov. 25, prompting a flood of critical comments.
Fr. Clément Barré, a priest in the French Archdiocese of Bordeaux, wrote: “Here again, the problem is that people don’t understand anything about liturgy and so they fiddle around without any concern for understanding and respecting the norms.”
“The only effect of this is to lead to even more rejection of synodality, women in leadership, and liturgical reform.”
Cathobel.be reported Dec. 2 on the online furor over the “liturgical adaptations” in the vicariate of Brabant Walloon. It said that most of the comments “came from French users, mainly from ‘traditional’ circles, with little (or no) knowledge of the pastoral particularities of Belgium.”
It added: “Rebecca Alsberge’s aim is not, and never has been, to put herself in the spotlight.”
Alsberge does not appear to have commented publicly on the guidelines or the online backlash against them.
Cathobel.be noted that the episcopal delegate was mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayer during a televised Mass celebrated Dec. 1 in Tangissart, Brabant.
It added that the radio journalist Armelle Delmelle had argued in a Nov. 28 broadcast that the intention behind the change “was simply to unify what was already being done in the parishes.”
The vicariate of Walloon Brabant was established in 1962, when Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens divided the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels into three territorial vicariates. The vicariate covers the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, which has a population of around 414,000 people.
Pope Francis visited the Mechelen-Brussels archdiocese during his Sept. 26-29 visit to Belgium.
The Vatican recently approved “liturgical adaptations” to the Mass for Indigenous communities in a southern Mexican diocese.
The approved adaptations for the San Cristóbal de Las Casas diocese include the conferral of the liturgical office of “Principal” on a man or woman chosen by the community, whose role is to “guide the people, at the invitation of the priest presiding at the celebration, in moments of communal prayer.”
