More than 45,000 people, including visitors from America, filled the streets and walked in procession on Thursday during the procession of holy blood in Bruges, Belgium, a tradition that is held annually on the day of ascension since May 3, 1304.
The procession represents how a relic of the Holy Blood of Christ was brought to this city of Western Flanders after the Crusades.
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Organized by the “Edele Confrèrie van Het Heilig Blohed” (noble brotherhood of holy blood), this year’s procession was attended by approximately 1,800 people who recreated 53 biblical and historical scenes of a sacred nature.
The procession covers the entire medieval center of the city, declared World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2000.
The most prominent participant of this year, together with the Bishop of Bruges, Mons. Lode Aerts, was Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, Belgian cleric whom Pope Francis appointed Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahán in 2021 and raised to the Cardinal College as Cardinal Presbyter in December 2024.
Mathieu speaks six languages, including Arabic, and belongs to the order of the lower Franciscans. He was born in the Belgian province of Luxembourg, but grew up in Damme, near Bruges.
In 2009, UNESCO added the procession of holy blood to its “List of masterpieces of oral and immaterial heritage of humanity.” This recognition came 700 years after Pope Clemente V officially approved the veneration of the Holy Blood relic in witches through the papal bull Although itissued in 1310.
According to tradition, Thierry de Alsacia, Count of Flanders, brought several drops of the blood of Christ from Jerusalem during a crusade in 1150. Since then, the relic is preserved in the chapel of Holy Blood in witches and is a point of daily attraction for tourists and pilgrims around the world.
Brujas, capital of the province of Flanders Western in the northwest of Belgium, is known for its port, channels, medieval buildings and cobbled streets. He enjoyed international fame thanks to the 2008 film “In Bruges”starring Irish actor Colin Farrell.
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA.
Thomas Philipp Reiter
Thomas Philipp Reiter is a Belgian-German journalist resident in Brussels, specialized in reports from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He studied journalism, economics and political science in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1986, it covers European issues and publishes books on numerous German and Belgian themes. He is also known as radio and podcast presenter.