The Brussels church has apologized for a 1370 accusation of Jewish people, and replaced a stained glass window depicting the blood libel with an apology plaque.
In an event on Wednesday last week, Archbishop Luc Terlinden and Brussels Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui unveiled a plaque in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula recognizing the antisemitic character of the “Miracle of the Sacrament.”
The Miracle of the Sacrament was an event said to have taken place on Good Friday in 1370 when at least six Jews of Brussels were accused of stealing communion breads and piercing them with a knife. Allegedly, a eucharistic miracle then occurred with the blood of Christ flowing from the bread.
The Jews were burned at the stake for this, and the remaining Jewish community was banished. The event became the basis of a centuries-long annual procession, and the stained-glass windows were added in the 1900s.
The windows showed caricatured depictions of Jews, such as a group of Jews stabbing the bread with knives.
Now, as of Wednesday, the windows have been removed and plaques installed, which state that Jews were wrongly accused in the past and that this was inseparably linked to antisemitism. They also ask the Jewish community for forgiveness “for the suffering caused by these accusations.”
The plaques are written in four languages: Dutch, French, English, and Hebrew.
Chief Rabbi pleased with dialogue
Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui said he was very pleased with the initiative and the dialogue with Brussels’ Catholic authorities.
“What is essential today is how we look at these images: They should not be erased, because they are part of history, but they must be accompanied by explanatory language, by ethical and spiritual insight that allows us to understand, contextualize, and above all avoid repeating the past,” he said.
“In that sense, today’s approach transforms these stained-glass windows: they are no longer only a reflection of a painful past; they also become the starting point for a shared reflection on truth, memory, and responsibility.”
Guigui said the goal is “not to condemn, but to understand. To understand that certain stories may unintentionally have given rise to negative perceptions and rejecting attitudes.”
“We cannot change the past, but we can decide how we pass it on. And in that lies an immense duty: to ensure that the stories which once divided us become opportunities for reconciliation,” he added.
Archbishop Terlinden said it marked a new step in relations between Jews and Christians in Belgium. He requested forgiveness from the Jewish people for the “suffering caused by the events of 1370 and the anti-Judaism that followed.”
“We acknowledge that at the end of the Middle Ages, in various regions of Europe, Jewish communities were wrongly accused of desecrating hosts [communion breads]. This slander, often fueled by fear and religious ignorance, led to persecutions, massacres, and unjust expulsions.”
“Anti-Judaism, both theologically and socially, stands in contradiction to the Gospel of Christ, which calls for truth, justice, and fraternity,” he concluded.