Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Pope Francis wraps his troubled stay in Belgium by honouring victims and demanding abusers be judged.
Pope Francis demanded that sexually offensive clergy be judged and their bishops quit covering up their crimes as he finished a troubled visit to Belgium by reacting to the outrage over the scandal here that has ravaged the church’s credibility. The main motivation for the trip was to mark the 600th anniversary of the Leuven/Louvain Catholic University, the oldest Catholic university in the world and extend the Vatican’s academic fiefdom in Belgium.
What actions did Francis demand from bishops regarding abuse?
“Evil must not be hidden. Evil must be brought out into the open,”
Francis spoke to some 30,000 people at Belgium’s sports stadium, drawing cheering repeatedly as the crowd took in what he was saying.
What message did Pope Francis convey to the people?
Francis turned from his prepared homily to respond to the discussion he held with 17 abuse survivors, where he attended first-hand the trauma and grief they experienced and the tone-deaf reaction of the church when they reported the crimes.
“In the church, there is room for everyone, everyone, but everyone will be judged and there is no place for abuse. There is no place for the covering up of abuse,”
Francis stated.
“I ask the bishops not to cover up abuse. Condemn the abusers and help them to recover from this disease of abuse.”
Belgium has had a terrible legacy of abuse and cover-up, none more symbolic of the church’s duplicity than the case of Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe. He was authorised to quietly retire in 2010 after he confessed that he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years. Pope Francis only disfellowshipped him this year 14 years later in a move clearly noticed as finally dealing with a problem before his appearance in Belgium.
What was the reaction of Belgium’s leadership to the scandal?
Belgium’s king instructed the church to work “incessantly” to clean up the scandal, and the prime minister demanded that victims’ needs be placed first, in a fabulous dressing-down from the leadership of the once-staunchly Catholic nation.
