Dominique Mathieu, from Arlon, has been made a cardinal by Pope Francis.
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Originally from Arlon (province of Luxembourg), Dominique Mathieu grew up in Damme near Bruges (West Flanders), and belongs to the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, a branch of the Franciscan family.
Since January 2021, he has held the position of Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, the only Catholic bishopric in Iran, a country that officially counts just 2,000 believers.
Now aged 61, this Belgian joins the College of Cardinals as an advisor to the Pope and may one day be able to elect the next bishop of Rome should the Chair of St Peter become vacant before he reaches the age of 80 (the age limit for being a potential elector).
With the appointment of Dominique Mathieu, the Sacred College of Cardinals now numbers 256 cardinals, including Jozef De Kesel, the former Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels from 2015 to 2023, who had already been appointed cardinal in 2017.
The situation that Belgium now finds itself in, with two of its own elevated to the rank of "princes of the church", can be seen as a historic moment!
