Genk (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The passing of Pope Francis caused grief to Emmanuel Henckens from Genk, who survived abuse within the Church. Among 15 victims, he was selected to exchange personal dialogue with the Pope. “I saw the pain in his eyes, it also caused him a lot of grief,” he says.
Emmanuel Henckels from Genk remains greatly impacted by the death of Pope Francis after surviving sexual abuse committed by the Catholic Church. The September 2024 Pope Francis meeting brought Henckens, along with 14 other victims, to have personal conversations with His Holiness. He felt grateful about receiving such acknowledgement because the Belgian Catholic Church had never done so before. His eyes saw the Pope’s experience of pain. Emotional pending situations remain due to the cancellation of the second meeting organised with Henckels.
Emmanuel Henckens, who appeared in the TV series Godvergeten, shared two hours of discussion time with Pope Francis during his 2024 visit, while the meeting lasted longer than its planned hour.
During their meeting, Henckens watched the Pope extend his apology for his lateness and reveal his profound sense of distress about church abuse scandals. After meeting with the high-ranking Church official, Henckens experienced a personal breakthrough because he received meaningful recognition for the first time.
The Pope displayed a transformative stance through his listening and empathy towards the victims because this contrasted with how Belgian Church authorities had previously treated victims with scepticism.
What is the background of church abuse cases in Belgium and the Vatican’s response?
A 2010 independent commission’s report exposed 497 sex abuse incidents that affected children between 1950 and 1990 throughout the Catholic Church in Belgium. Public fury followed the commission’s publicised findings, yet legal prosecution was restricted by the expiration of statutes of limitation. A recent investigation in 2021 revealed more than 1,000 new allegations of abuse, which strengthened public scrutiny against the Church leadership’s approaches toward these cases.
In 2013, Pope Francis established regulations for stricter abuse reporting when he became the pontiff in 2019. As he travelled to Belgium in 2024, he purposely met with survivors in a highly unusual personal encounter between a pope and victims in that territory. Critics believe the Church needs to accelerate its reforms because numerous abuse cases have not been properly resolved.
Belgian Church members have directly accused the institution of inadequate victim support as survivor Emmanuel Henckels describes how the organisation dismissed and disbelieved the victims. The passing of Pope Francis prompts uncertainty about the continuation of his efforts to address abuse claims by his chosen successor to the papacy.
