Wanneer? op zaterdag 12 april om 16:00 tot 21:00
Waar? House of Compassion
Kom luisteren en ontdekken hoe lokale artiesten in 4 sets een sfeer van rust en contemplatie creëren. Ontdek een inclusieve ruimte die diversiteit omarmt en culturele uitwisseling bevordert.
Er zullen vier artiesten optreden: Suzan Peeters, Mostafa Taleb, Mélodie Blaison en Yab (Fenêtre Ovale).
Je kan het initiatief ondersteunen met een vrijwillige bijdrage.
Exhibition
When? On display throughout the month of March
Where? House of Compassion
A few meters from Brussels International Airport – Zaventem, you will find Centre de Rétention 127 bis and Caricole Transit Centre.
In Belgium, as in all other European Union countries, people of foreign origin considered “illegal” due to lack of proper documentation are detained with a view to their deportation. These centers, located near the runways and away from the media’s attention, have been involved in many scandals, yet today they operate more efficiently than ever.
An insight into the European deportation system, where men and women are trapped in a cycle, their lives suspended by a blind and inhumane bureaucracy. Isolated from the world, their voices speak of injustice, despair, and forms of both physical and psychological torture.
An initiative by the Getting The Voice Out collective, which supports struggles in closed centers by amplifying the voices of detainees.
Save the Date!
When? Saturday, May 3, from 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Where? House of Compassion
On Saturday, May 3, 2025, House of Compassion will celebrate the Fête de la Dignité in Brussels, a day dedicated to inspiration, connection, and solidarity.
This event brings together people committed to a more just world, whether in migration, the fight against poverty, ecology, or equal opportunities.
On Place du Béguinage and inside House of Compassion, you can enjoy music by the Fanfakids, art, inspiring speeches, and captivating stories. There will also be information stands and fun activities for children, including a bouncy castle and a kite-flying contest, ensuring something for everyone.
Be inspired by unique encounters and discover how both small and big actions can make a difference. Enjoy delicious food and a warm atmosphere—this is the perfect opportunity to connect with others who share your commitment to humanity and justice. Everyone is welcome to celebrate together and recharge with positive energy for the future.
To make this day a success, we are still looking for volunteers. Want to lend a hand? Contact us at nisrine@houseofcompassion.be.
Come and experience an uplifting and inspiring day, and let your hope grow!
More info: Karen Naessens, +32 498 94 43 77, naessens.karen@gmail.com.
When? Saturday, April 5 at 11:00 AM
Where? House of Compassion
The launch of the campaign “Who do you lock up?” takes place on Saturday, April 5 at House of Compassion between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The focus of this day will be on migration and, in particular, the issue of detention of people without residence permits in closed centers.
● 11:00 Introduction by Staf Peeters from the NRV network, presenting the Jubilee of Hope and the campaign.
● 11:15 Geneviève Frère from House of Compassion introduces the different speakers.
● 11:20 Zana Hanafi, human rights activist. Testimony about her flight to Belgium / Change program of JRS Belgium.
● 11:45 Break & musical intermezzo by Paul Takahashi.
● 12:00 Ruben Bruynooghe, lawyer by training, visitor of detention at the Caricole transit center, and coordinator of the visitor team at JRS Belgium.
● 12:15 Francine Esther Kouablan: MRAX.
● 12:30 Time for exchange with the audience.
● 13:00 Solidarity meal.
● Simultaneous translation NL/FR provided.
📌 Feel free to register via the link: www.houseofcompassion.be/inschrijving or by email if the link does not work.
This exhibit with appealing portraits has been extended till may 30th!
Until then, you can give these courageous women a heart to heart with a personal note. Warmly recommended!
Lundi prochain, nous recevons les célèbres réalisateurs de film et de théâtre Michael De Cock et Dorothée Van Den Berghe: une occasion unique pour échanger en direct avec eux.
Si, comme moi, vous rêvez d’une pièce de théâtre sur l’occupation de l’église du Béguinage ou d’un film ou roman sur la lutte des sans-papiers, venez à House of Compassion lundi. Qui sait, ensemble nous pourrons peut-être donner des idées à ces deux personnes magnifiques.
Michael De Cock
En tant que journaliste, Michael De Cock a un jour séjourné dans l’église du béguinage de Bruxelles pour mieux connaître la réalité des sans-papiers. “Ils ne profitent pas de nous, mais nous profitons d’eux”, titrait-il à l’époque dans Knack. Son engagement franc s’est ensuite reflété dans son travail artistique. Par exemple, il a fait une tournée en Europe avec une pièce sur les réfugiés dans laquelle il enfermait le public dans un camion. Sous son impulsion en tant que directeur artistique, le Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg (KVS) a programmé des pièces pionnières comme “Mawda“, sur le bambin belge mort d’une balle de la police. C’est également sous son administration que le KVS a pris une orientation claire en accordant plus de place aux minorités, tant dans le public que sur scène. “Seule l’imagination peut nous sauver”, estime Michael De Cock, et c’est ce qu’il essaie de faire avec son art.
Dorothée Van Den Berghe
Dorothée Van Den Berghe est une réalisatrice et scénariste bruxelloise. Son travail témoigne également d’un engagement social prononcé. Par exemple, elle a vécu pendant un certain temps dans un squat aux Pays-Bas, une expérience qui l’a inspirée pour le film My Queen Karo. Son film le plus connu, Meisje (fille), a reçu plusieurs prix et nominations.
> Inscrivez-vous dès maintenant à la projection du film Aller/retour suivie par un échange avec Michael De Cock et Dorothée Van Den Berghe : www.houseofcompassion.be/inscription
A new exhibit will soon begin at House of Compassion. The theme is “Clean Clothes”. We will highlight the progress but also the continuing problems of the garment industry, following the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh.
To make the exhibition lively and meaningful, we are looking for hangers, t-shirts and shirts. We are asking anyone who can spare hangers, t-shirts or shirts to bring them to the Beguinage church. You can drop off the items at the reception desk. Mathieu Peeters, who is setting up the exhibit, will make a beautiful installation with them.
Afterwards, the material will be donated to a humanitarian organization.
Last weekend’s solidarity weekend was a nice success. On Saturday evening, there was a vigil at the bridge, organised by neighbours living around the Petit Château. At night, the neighbours slept outside in a tent, in solidarity with the refugees who have been living there for months. On Sunday, there was a small parade and Friendship Without Borders brunch, where several speakers spoke.
The organisers succeeded in their aim. There was once again press coverage of the shelter crisis. Here are some links:
Petit Château : les riverains passent la nuit aux côtés des demandeurs d’asile
Priest Daniel Alliët is this week’s guest in Kerk & Leven. They invited him to answer the question: Are acts of civil disobedience appropriate for religious leaders?
Read the full text below.
Daniel Alliet
Priest in Brussels, defending undocumented migrants in particular
“Are religious authorities promoting civil disobedience? What will be next? Will we see men in cassocks and Roman collar throwing soup on paintings in museums or blocking access to motorways?” the French medium La Croix states so defiantly in its 2 December 2022 edition, after a remarkable group of activists – a rabbi, a Catholic bishop, a Protestant minister, an imam and a Buddhist monk – took part in the occupation of a petrol station in protest against a TotalEnergies oil project in Uganda and Tanzania.
Generally, a society needs rules and you have to abide by them. “The (basic) law is not a scrap of paper,” Leo Tindemans once exclaimed. However, is it true that in a democracy, everyone should always obey the law? If so, we would not be where we are today. Women’s suffrage came about after “disobedience” to male authority – up to and including a hunger strike – by a group of English women. Slavery only got abolished by (unlawful) uprisings. The right to strike followed ‘unlawful’ strikes. Think of the actions of priest Daens and of socialists in the late nineteenth century. Black people in the United States only got civil rights after a lot of ‘illegal’ actions, first and foremost those of Rosa Parks. Indians got just salt prices only after Ghandi’s massive illegal Salt March and hundreds of thousands of ‘civil disobedient’ poor.
One could argue that all those ‘civil disobedient’ stood up for more just rules. They acted not for personal gain, not by force and only after ordinary legal means proved inadequate. With many others, political philosopher Hannah Arendt argued that it is fortunate that those people are there, because without them democracy scleroses, falls hopelessly behind changes and advancing insight, and risks becoming extremely unjust, in short, the opposite of democracy.
Thus Jesus healed on Sabbath, an undeniable act of civil-religious disobedience. The then almost 16-year-old Greta Thunberg disregarded compulsory schooling when she decided to stand at the Swedish Parliament every day until the elections in 2018, with her self-made banner ‘Skolstrejk for klimatet’. And so there also came that occupation of that petrol station against the tragedy of TotalEnergies.
And yes, that included ‘that religious quintet’. Is that kind of civil disobedience appropriate for religious leaders? And sometimes it is added whether it is ‘expedient’. Well, the Greek philosopher Socrates chose to drink the poison cup instead of having to follow what he considered unjust rules. It was a Buddhist monk who was the first to publicly set himself on fire against the US war in Vietnam. Jesus healed on Sabbath – an unmistakable act of civil-religious disobedience, which helped cause him to be condemned and crucified. In his wake, many Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god.
Closer to our time, there is the example of a Belgian bishop who protested against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and took in 20 undocumented women to call for a different regularisation policy. When 100 desperate and supposedly “double illegal” persons occupied the Beguinage Church in Brussels during the Corona crisis, the parish did not turn them in. Even the chief rabbi, an imam and representatives of humanism openly supported them.
So are such actions inappropriate or inappropriate? Granted, nobody has a monopoly on truth and you always run the risk of defending a wrong point of view. That does not take away from the fact that every human being has his or her own conscience and that not (daring to) act is by no means a neutral choice either. This also applies to religious leaders, who in certain circumstances may judge that they have to take action, as human beings and as citizens. Their fait may make them feel extra motivated.