The church closed its doors to the faithful six years ago. The building is in such dire condition that it is expected to cost several million euros to renovate. The authorities of the Anderlecht district bought it for a symbolic sum and want a community centre to be built in the church with a hundred-year history.

“This church has never been restored, and the walls were in danger of collapsing. Thanks to the project that aims to use it for the local population, we managed to raise funds, said Mayor Fabrice Cumps. The renovation is to take five years.

“This is a reality that we encounter in Belgium, especially in neighbourhoods where there are many churches and where most of the population is now Muslim,” reporter Tommy Scholtes, spokesman for the Belgian episcopate told Polsat News.

In Anderlecht, as many as forty per cent of the population professes Islam. 

Source: pch24.pl