A Belgian civil court has fined two Catholic bishops in a direct attack on religious freedom after they denied a woman entry into a diaconate formation program.

The woman, Veer Dusauchoit, asked the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels to register for training as a deacon in June 2023 and again in October 2023.

Ms Dusauchoit made her first request to Cardinal Jozef De Kesel and her second to Archbishop Luc Terlinden after De Kesel’s 2023 resignation at age 76. Both times, her request to join the four-year diaconal training program was denied. The two prelates will have to pay  €1,500 euro each, the court ordered.

The Catholic Church teaches that holy orders –  diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate – is reserved to baptised men.

Pope Francis has reiterated numerous times that holy orders are “reserved to men”, though he has also called for “study” into whether women could become deacons.