The future of Christianity [Open Lettre for everyone who's interested]

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
Mother Theresa

There are rumours that Christianity is possibly fading away from the surface of the Earth. I want to make a statement that gives a mind of openess to a more positive and brighter future for the Roman Catholic Faith. I believe, as Pope Francis stated, that all religions in the end are true and I am glad that the city of Antwerp and the community of Sant Edigio made the beautiful event “Peace is the future” happen. My parents were not Christians, but I have in the end a warm hearth for the faith. My first name Kristof means “follower of Christ” and my last name Van Hooymissen is related to Van Hoogmissen (High Masses / High Priests). I saw in the rebellion against Christianity by my own biological father a deep hidden wound and pain because of the horrors done by the Inquisition and the fact that Joan of Arc for instance was seen as a heretic, a witch, whose destiny was not as it should be. Let this be a lesson for the future and how we relate to people who are different from what we as a people think that it should be. I am deeply interested in the lives of mystics, and Saint Francis of Assisi is one of my personal favorites, among many others, both Christian and non-Christian, so I am glad that the current head of the Catholic religion, Pope Francis, is inspired by Francis of Assisi. I believe that if Christiany can contemplate on the mistakes of the past, that there is a future for the Catholic fait. The barriers between the different groups of Christians and the different branches of the Christian faith should be removed, and there is a great call, in Belgium for sure, for a respiritualisation of Christianity, as our Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny also asked for a more open, tolerant Church, not neglecting homosexuals for instance. In my later life I regained a true interest for Christiany and the mystical orders of the Church, and I hope that one day the battles and fights between Christianity and other believe systems like freemasonry and theosophy will be something of the past, so that true religious and spiritual freedom of thought and expression can become a living truth, ending all inner wars. I wish the current Pope Francis all the best with his efforts to respiritualise the Roman Catholic Church and I wish him succes in order keep on living in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. He is an inspiration for me as well and I wish him all the best. I could have end up with hate against Christianity like I have seen by others, because of the mistakes of the past done by the Church, but I choose a different, more compassionate approach. Let us remind that we are all children of the spirit that brought us to life, and let's focus on peace, righteousness and virtue, everywhere in the world. I personaly want to encourage Rome for its struggle for peace in the world and the protection of humanity, the weakest members of society in the first place, like the poor, the voiceless and the mistreated. The criticism of Pope Francis is sometimes sharp, but holds truth and is in the end constructive in nature. I wish him all the best. Let us not forget the victims of peadophile priests in the Church, and look to the source of the problem. Maybe the forced celebacy for priests isn't always the wisest thing to do, and I hope that women in the future can become priests as well, in all branches of the church. I believe that they even should be allowed to marry and raise children, but for the rest I leave it to Rome. I want to remind the works of the mystic Nicolas Roerich with his banner of peace and his efforts for a true spirit of peace in society through culture, based on three pillars: spirituality, science and art, everywhere. I believe that if we all work with common sense for a better world, that God will be no longer dead, as Nietzsche once said, but will rise as a phoenix, because the future of the 21sth century must be a spiritual one, as many great thinkers said before, in order to prevent us from self-destruction and nihilism and living a life without meaning, hope and purpose. May all spiritual-minded people in the world give the best they can, even in sometimes difficult circumstances of living, in order to prevent the catastrophy through the dangers of our own self-destruction caused by wars and conflicts worldwide. We don't need another world war. Peace starts in our own mind, hearts, families and communities. Let us not give up and build on that new heaven and a new earth. May love and compassion guide us on the battlefield as humans on planet earth, every day and every minute of an hour, in this current time of struggle and conflict, what the Hindu religion calls Kali Yuga. I pray, hope and meditate for the protection of the virtues and righteous one in the world and hope that they will find the courage and strength to survive and live a happy and long live, whilst serving humanity as much as they can. And considering my hometown of Antwerp, let us keep the brave Bisshop Johan Bonny in mind, and the community of Sant Edigio for the beautiful deeds of goodwill, in the quest in struggle for a better world. The work has just begun. Humanity is an imperfect race, and I am part of it, with my own imperfections, but my intention is based on goodwill and the hope for a better future for all of us.

With the kindest regards from Belgium for everyone involved,

Kristof, a modern mystic with the approach of an open-minded scientist and researcher.

Religare is the latin word for "to reconnect, to bind together" which gave origin to the word religion. Attempts to define religion are manifold and various, but for the time being we will just say that religion is at the heart of an ancient human longing for meaning and oneness, inspiring both the civil and spiritual life. This is indeed an ambitious project, to explore human spiritual quest from the point of view of such different traditions as the path of the Goddess, the voice of Angels, the way of Yoga, the rigor of Zazen, the chants of the Sufi and so many others. We will try to "re-connect" to a wide diversity of traditions and explore the spiritual path by the approach of different disciplines: history, art, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, theology, sociology, etc... but, more than anything, by the medium of our passions.


“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery