On February 7, a seminar of the Orthodox prison ministry in Belgium was held at the St. Andrew’s parish in Ghent. The event began with a Divine Liturgy in the small historic chapel of St. Apostle Andrew and St. Sophronius. The Liturgy was led by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium (Patriarchate of Constantinople), Exarch of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, in the presence of Orthodox prison chaplains and clergy from the Metropolis. The meeting was organized by the Orthodox prison chaplains in Belgium to highlight the role of spiritual support for men and women serving sentences in places of deprivation of liberty.
The guest of honor on the first day was Archpriest John Psomas of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who delivered a report on “Ministry among Prisoners in the Netherlands: Similarities, Differences and Challenges.” Based on his many years of experience as a prison chaplain in the Netherlands, he presented with many concrete examples the pastoral work carried out in prison institutions in neighboring countries, recalling that the approach of Christians to prisoners should be based on the words of Christ: “I was in prison and you visited me” (Matt. 25:36).
The Orthodox Church in Belgium (under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) is actively working in this direction. At the end of last year, a meeting of the Orthodox bishops of the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) was held in Brussels, where they discussed specific forms of Christian Orthodox religious assistance in the Belgian armed forces and the prison system, as well as the introduction of Orthodox religion classes in primary schools in the Netherlands. This working meeting was attended by hierarchs representing the Ecumenical, Russian, Serbian, Romanian and Georgian Patriarchates.
