THE ISSUE OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
Although the Belgian press showed its interest in the visit of this exceptionally high-profile embassy, the
happening did not figure as headline news. Most articles or notices about the embassy are subsumed under
headings such as local news, referring to a visit to a city in the province, or as society news under the
heading Faits divers. Belgian politics coloured off on the reporting of the visit. A sharp dividing line ran
through Belgian society, pitting the Catholics against the free-thinkers. The acrimonious debate was not
limited to Belgium alone, but it went on in most of the Catholic countries of Europe. The Pope had only
recently been stripped of the Papal States, and the exile of Bishop Mermillod in Switzerland was causing a
great uproar.