Sint-Ceciliakerk

Sint-Ceciliakerk is a Roman Catholic parish church in Ganshoren, one of the municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, standing at Sint-Ceciliavoorplein 1. It's a modest, mid-20th-century building that grew directly out of the expansion of a new residential district and still serves as a focal point for the local Catholic community.

How did the parish come about?

The story starts in 1963, when Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, then Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, tasked a priest named Arnould with founding a new parish. Its mission was to serve residents of a rapidly growing part of Ganshoren — a neighborhood that, in the early 1960s, was undergoing intense urban expansion as Brussels' population spread into its outer municipalities. The parish was therefore created to meet a concrete pastoral need tied to a specific wave of urban growth, rather than being an abstract administrative decision.

When was the church actually built?

Construction followed close behind the parish's founding, taking place in 1964–1965. That sequence — first establish the community, then quickly put up a building to house it — was common practice in postwar Belgium, where church authorities were racing to keep pace with the rapid growth of new housing developments around Brussels.

What does the building look like?

The design came from the architectural office Moens de Hase. The result is a structure firmly in the postwar modernist idiom: a plain, brick, boxy volume with clean geometric lines. That choice of form reflects the broader shift of the era away from ornamental, historicizing church architecture toward a sober, functional aesthetic that prioritized simple materials and legible massing over decorative flourish.

What's inside?

Much of the interior furnishing is the work of a single artist, Henri-Joseph Holemans, who created the tabernacle, the baptismal font, and the processional cross — giving the interior a stylistic coherence that contrasts with the austerity of the exterior. Another notable feature is the neo-baroque choir organ, built in 1999 by Rudi Jacques. Being decades younger than the building itself, the organ shows that the parish kept investing in its liturgical furnishings long after the church's original construction.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the church located? At Sint-Ceciliavoorplein 1 in Ganshoren, a municipality within the Brussels-Capital Region.

When was the parish established? In 1963, at the initiative of Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, who assigned the task to a priest named Arnould.

When was the church building constructed? Construction took place in 1964–1965.

Who designed the building? The architectural office Moens de Hase, working in a plain brick, postwar modernist style.

Is there anything notable inside? Yes — the tabernacle, baptismal font, and processional cross were made by Henri-Joseph Holemans, and the neo-baroque choir organ dates from 1999, built by Rudi Jacques.

Is the church still active? Yes, it remains a functioning parish church serving the local Catholic community in Ganshoren.