Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Between July 2024 and June 2025, the Belgian Catholic Church received 59 sexual abuse reports, while ceremonies like baptisms, first communions, confirmations, and weddings continued to decline, the annual report shows.
As Nieuwsblad News reported, between July 2024 and June 2025, the Belgian Catholic Church received 59 new reports of sexual abuse. In total, 112 complaints were processed during the same period. This total includes older cases that had not been handled in previous years.
What led to 218 abuse reports at the Belgian Catholic Church after “Godvergeten”?
Between July 2023 and June 2024, reports rose nearly twice to 218. Experts believe the increase is related to the recent VRT series “Godvergeten,” which dealt with the issue of sexual abuse within the Church. They mentioned that victims seemed to be inspired to come forward following the airing of the series. Many of the victims recounted their experiences after watching the series.
Most of the victims were under 21 years of age at the time of the abuse. 16 victims were even younger than 10. Although the majority of the cases took place decades ago, there were still 11 reports where the alleged perpetrators were still living and those cases were referred to the courts. The Church has already compensated 59 victims with financial compensation.
