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A Catholic university in Belgium incorporates Islamic chants into the opening mass of the course

The Islamization of the KU Leuven mass has caused protests among students: they accuse the university of renouncing its religious identity rooted in 600 years of history.

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The Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) has incorporated Islamic chants into the opening Mass of the 2026–2027 academic year. It took place on Wednesday 16 September at the Church of Saint Peter in Leuven, Belgium. The Belgian newspaper PAL NWS has published the images of the event.

It wasn't an interfaith meeting

The ceremony was not advertised as an interfaith gathering. It was officially the solemn opening Mass of the academic year, which has been celebrated since 1425. The novelty this year is that Some Islamic chants were performed during the same Catholic Mass. The university explains that beginning the academic year with a Eucharist is part of its tradition. This gives the introduction of Islamic chants greater symbolic weight: it does not occur in just any event, but in one of the institution's oldest and most representative ceremonies.

KU Leuven continues to retain the word Catholic in its own designation: the K in KU stands for Catholic, «Catholic» in Dutch. It also retains the church, the academic gowns, the academic procession and the opening Mass. This university preserves all the external symbols of its Christian tradition but, after 600 years of operation, has Islamised the Mass.

«KU Leuven with the K of the Qur'an»

The main protest has come from the KVHV-Leuven association of Flemish students at the University of Leuven. On Instagram the group summed up its protest with the phrase «KU Leuven with the K of the Qur'an» and he accused the university of progressively abandoning its Christian identity. His complaint is not against the presence of Muslims at the university, but against the fact that an Islamic religious expression is being incorporated precisely. during a Catholic Mass.

KU Leuven has not, to date, offered a detailed public explanation of the decision. It is not known who proposed incorporating the Islamic chants, what significance they had within the celebration, or why they were introduced into a Catholic Mass. The university continues to present the event simply as the solemn opening Mass of the academic year.

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