Bruges, Belgium, May 31, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).
Over 45,000 people, including visitors from the Americas, lined the streets and walked in procession Thursday for the Holy Blood Procession in Bruges, Belgium, which has taken place annually on Ascension Day since May 3, 1304.
The procession depicts how a relic of the Holy Blood of Christ was brought to the West Flemish city following the Crusades.
Organized by the “Edele Confrèrie van het Heilig Bloed” (Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood), this year’s procession featured approximately 1,800 participants who reenacted 53 biblical and historical sacred scenes.
The procession moves through the entire medieval city center, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.
The most prominent participant this year, alongside Bruges Bishop Lode Aerts, was Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, a Belgian religious cleric whom Pope Francis appointed as Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan in 2021 and admitted to the College of Cardinals as a Cardinal Priest in December 2024.
Mathieu speaks six languages, including Arabic, and belongs to the Franciscan Minorite Order. He was born in the Belgian province of Luxembourg but grew up in Damme, near Bruges.
In 2009, UNESCO added the Holy Blood Procession to its “List of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” This World Heritage recognition came 700 years after Pope Clement V officially sanctioned the veneration of the Holy Blood relic in Bruges through the papal bull “Licet is” in 1310.
According to tradition, Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, brought several drops of Christ’s blood from Jerusalem during a crusade in 1150. The relic has since been preserved in the Holy Blood Chapel in Bruges and serves as a daily attraction for tourists and pilgrims from around the world.
Bruges, the capital city of West Flanders in northwest Belgium known for its port, canals, medieval buildings, and cobblestone streets, is widely known to international audiences through the 2008 film “In Bruges” starring Irish actor Colin Farrell.
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Is 45,000 the usual number or is this an uptick in hitherto de-facto-atheistic Belgium?
45,000 is a lot, but it’s within the usual range, given that Bruges is one of Europe’s top tourist destinations. On the other hand, Belgium is nowhere near as atheistic as many media outlets would like to believe. Faith is deeply rooted in large segments of the population. Belgium remains one of the four most Catholic countries in Europe, alongside Italy, Spain, and France. Even the interplay between media and politics hasn’t been able to prevent this.