Our Cultural Exchange activities in 2024

In 2025, the Verbiest Foundation has engaged in various cultural exchange activities to foster good relations with its partners, organizations, and individuals both within and outside China. Some of these cultural exchanges have a longstanding tradition and have been repeated over the years, such as the Verbiest Foundation’s invitation of a delegation of Chinese bishops. Other activities were new initiatives, such as the visit of the Leuven Chinese School to the Foundation. Through these efforts, we aim to sustain dialogue and promote mutual understanding between our Churches and people from different cultural backgrounds.

Pope Franciscus in Belgium

From September 26 to 29, 2024, Pope Francis visited Belgium, including Leuven. The Foundation attended the Mass held at King Boudewijn Stadium.

Visit to China with Cardinal De Kesel

On Friday 7 June, Cardinal De Kesel left for China with a delegation on a visit organized by the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation in Leuven.
The Cardinal was already invited for a visit in 2020, but it could not take place then because of the corona pandemic. After the pandemic,the Chinese bishops again took the initiative and invited him, as president of the Verbiest Foundation, to visit the Church in China. The Cardinal was accompanied by Fr. Charles Phukuta cicm, Superior General of the Congregation of Scheut (CICM), Mgr. Herman Cosijns, former secretary of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference and Fr. Jeroom Heyndrickx cicm, founder and board member of the Verbiest Foundation. Fr. Matthew Gong and Sr. Gaby Yang, colleagues from the Verbiest Foundation, completed the delegation.

In Beijing, the Cardinal and his delegation visited the “Bishops’ Conference,” where they continued discussions on the joint exchange program. This program includes pastoral cooperation, academic research with KU Leuven, and cultural exchange. It was restarted in April this year, when a group of 22 parish priests attended a session on Sacred Scripture, pastoral ministry, and social teaching. The session was organized in Chinese by the Verbiest Foundation in Leuven and concluded with a pilgrimage to Rome, where the participants were received by the Pope.

On Sunday, 9 June, a Eucharistic Mass was celebrated at Beijing Cathedral with Bishop Li Shan, Bishop of Beijing. Concelebrating Mass no longer poses a problem now that all bishops in China have been recognized by Pope Francis. However, the “Bishops’ Conference” itself has not yet been officially recognized, as unofficial (underground) bishops are still unable to become members.

The Cardinal also delivered a lecture at the National Seminary on his book Faith and Religion in a Secularised Society. The book was recently translated into Chinese and published by the Verbiest Foundation, and it serves as the central theme of the Foundation’s 15th International Conference, which will take place in Leuven this September. Speakers from both East and West—including a Chinese bishop and other Chinese participants—have already confirmed their attendance. In this way, the Foundation continues its dialogue with China, a commitment it has upheld since its establishment in 1982.