Brussels: A hunger-strike by hundreds of migrants in Brussels is threatening to fracture Belgium’s government. Their protest — launched by migrants hoping to get formal residency after living in Belgium for years — began two months, and is straining their health. Six strikers have sewn their mouths shut. Five triedContinue Reading
Brussels, Belgium: For the first time in 200 years, beer is being brewed at a historic Catholic abbey in Belgium. The Grimbergen Abbey Brewery opened on May 27 at Grimbergen Abbey near the Belgian capital, Brussels. The Norbertine monastery, founded in 1128, was forced to abandon beer-making when the abbeyContinue Reading
Vienna: Euthanasia and assisted suicide cases have risen rapidly in Belgium and the Netherlands since the practices were legalized in 2002, according to a bioethics institute. The Vienna-based Institute for Medical Anthropology and Bioethics (IMABE) noted on Feb. 12 that cases had increased in Belgium from just 24 in 2002Continue Reading
A Catholic deacon accused of killing at least 10 people – including his own mother – has gone on trial in Belgium. Former nurse Ivo Poppe is suspected of killing his victims by injecting air into their blood, causing a fatal embolism. The offences are alleged to have taken placeContinue Reading
Brussels, Belgium: The board of the Belgian Brothers of Charity announced Tuesday it will continue offering euthanasia to patients in their psychiatric centres, despite being ordered by the Vatican to stop doing so. The “Broeders van Liefde” board had been given until the end of August to comply with the Vatican order,Continue Reading
Pope Francis has ordered a Belgian Catholic charity to stop offering euthanasia in its psychiatric hospitals. In May, the Brothers of Charity group announced it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia at its 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium, one of only two countries — along with the Netherlands — where doctors areContinue Reading
Brussels, Belgium: Following a decision by the board of several Belgian Catholic psychiatric hospitals to start performing euthanasia, the religious brothers who operate the hospitals said the policy change is unacceptable and cannot be implemented. “We deplore this new vision,” said Brother René Stockman, the superior general of the Brothers ofContinue Reading