Belgium volunteers, church officials roll up their sleeves for Pope Francis' visit

BRUSSELS (OSV News) -- Numerous volunteers and professionals are doing everything in their power to make Pope Francis' visit to Belgium go smoothly. Each has a different task, but one thought prevails: You only get this chance once in your lifetime.

Bram Slegers does not know exactly how it happened, but together with 14 other boys and girls, the 18-year-old will soon be taking part in a papal Mass as an altar server at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels Sept. 29.

"I received an email saying I had to go to Koekelberg because I was allowed to serve with the pope. We were told we were chosen," he said.

Each diocese is sending a few young people. The choice of Slegers was not difficult for the Diocese of Antwerp: He is an acolyte in no less than 12 churches in Mol and Balen.

"I said yes because this is a unique opportunity," he said. He also saw it as a sign as he has had a calling to be a priest for some time. "I think God wanted it that way, otherwise I wouldn't have received that email," Slegers said.

"I experience this as something God has given me," he said. "He has given me a priestly vocation, which is already in full swing; with everything that happens, I think God has given me this too."

Pope Francis arrives in Luxembourg the morning of Sept. 26 and that afternoon flies to Brussels. He will be in Belgium through Sept. 29, departing for Rome after the Mass and a noon farewell ceremony.

The papal trip to Belgium required months of preparations on all fronts, including on the clothing one. The miter and choir mantel that Pope Francis will wear during the celebration in the stadium, has been designed and sewed by an Arte Grossé studio in Bruges.

Marc Schotte, manager of the company, said, "It is the highest recognition you can get."

The Bruges company specializes in liturgical robes and has in the past provided clothing for several major ecclesiastical events, but for the first time the studio is now also allowed to vest Pope Francis.

When they were assigned to the task by Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Mechelen-Brussels, employees immediately started working, said studio leader Katrien Verhelst. "We had to make a design that had to be approved. For example, our first design for the miter was found too busy."
The choice ultimately was a design inspired by a chasuble that the company had previously made for Archbishop Terlinden.

"We came up with the idea of just making a simple cross where all the colors of the chasuble are incorporated. That was approved and that is how we worked it out," explained Verhelst. "It's a design with cheerful colors."

In addition to the pope's vestments, the studio also is supplying other pieces of clothing and items for Mass -- all of which had to be ready in a month and a half. "It is a big task. We have been quite busy with that, also because of the time pressure," said Verhelst.

But she thought that it was absolutely worth it. "I am very proud that so many people will see our clothes," she said. "It is an honor, you do not do this every day."

Nathalie De Clerck, columnist for Catholic KN Dutch media, will also have a role to play and will act as an interpreter during the meeting between the pope and ecclesiastical representatives in Koekelberg at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart Sept. 28. She was commissioned through her work as an interpreter at the European Parliament. "My Protestant colleague there was asked to act as an interpreter during that meeting and to find someone else for it. He said: 'I just want a righteous Catholic, so I thought of you,'" she said.

"This is once in a lifetime. You don't get a second chance," she said. "I myself also have a great admiration for Pope Francis, for his humility and the way in which he slowly but surely gets much-needed reforms through, such as making the Roman Curia less powerful and the church less clerical."

The papal trip to the center of Europe also takes some veterans when it comes to organizing big church events and Patrick du Bois is one of them. The 70-year-old was involved in organizing church events for almost two decades.

"It is a service I provide to the church. I also have the highest admiration for Pope Francis' message and how he tries to reach a wide audience, not only within the church, but also the people of the periphery. I think that in our secularized society, the pope is trying to reach as many people as possible," Du Bois said.

He is helping with the pope's visit organization and logistics.

"Around the pope, very precise security measures must be taken," he said. The papal visit is also of much larger size than the events that Du Bois has previously organized. "For example, there are 260 journalists to be accredited."

Although he has been retired since last year, Du Bois spent 12 hours a day this spring organizing the apostolic visit. He indicated that he was looking forward "a little" to "the moment that the event is behind us," but above all he hoped to make the papal visit a success.

"I look back with satisfaction when I see happy people who have experienced the pope's visit positively," he stressed. His reward at the end would be "if all those people have also received new impetus and new enthusiasm for faith and Christian values," he said.

"That is our hope that people will become more positive about the church," Du Bois added. "The image is now very negative: In Flanders, a lot of attention has been paid to abuse problems, which is of course very important, but the message of Jesus Christ to people can reach a wide audience again."