In December 1998, Parliament enacted legislation formally charging Belgian State Security with the duty to monitor harmful sectarian organizations as potential threats to the internal security of the country. The Government permits religious instruction in public schools but does not require students to attend religion classes. Public school religion teachers are nominated by a committee from their religious group and appointed by the Minister of Education. All public schools have a teacher for each of the six recognized religions. The Catholic Church also maintains a network of private schools at the primary and secondary levels.
Catholic schools receive government subsidies for working expenses and teacher salaries.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners. There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States. There are amicable relations among the various religious communities. The Catholic Church has taken the lead in establishing an ecumenical dialog between the recognized religions, as well as with the religious groups named in the 1997 parliamentary report on sects.