Pope Francis reacts during a meeting with Belgian authorities and civil society in Brussels, Belgium on September 27, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
Pope Francis said on Friday (September 27, 2024) that the Catholic Church must “seek forgiveness” for the “sickness” of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church has a dark past.
In a speech before political and civil society leaders opening a three-day visit to the country, Pope Francis denounced “tragic cases of child abuse” as a stain on the Church’s heritage.
“This is our shame and humiliation,” Francis said at the meeting at the royal residence of Laeken Palace.
“The church should be ashamed and should apologize,” he said.
The 87-year-old pontiff will meet with a group of clerical sexual assault victims in Brussels later this evening, as part of a three-day stay in the European country marred by decades of scandals and cover-ups.
The meeting with around 15 victims, took place at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT) in the diplomatic mission of the Vatican, it was held with “total discretion”, according to the Belgian church.
It was organized after a shocking documentary last year put the Belgian abuse scandal back on the front pages, prompting many new victims to come forward.
In an open letter published by Le Soir newspaper this month, some demanded the pope address pedophilia and set up a process for financial compensation.
“Just words are not enough. Concrete steps must also be taken,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in his opening speech to the Pope.
The Pope said that the scandal of abuse is “a disease that the Church is dealing with firmly and decisively by listening and accompanying those who are wounded, and by implementing prevention programs throughout the world”.
Forced adoption
Pope Francis has made combating sexual ambushes in the Church the main mission of the papacy, and insisted on a “zero tolerance” policy in the wake of wide-ranging abuse scandals around the world.
During his speech, Francis also said he was “saddened” to learn of the forced adoption scandal in Belgium that saw institutions run by nuns handing over the babies of thousands of underage girls and unmarried women.
“We see how the bitter fruit of wrongdoing and criminality is mixed with what is unfortunately a common view in all parts of society at that time,” he said.
Belgian news site HLN estimates that up to 30,000 children were taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.
A bishop in Belgium apologized in 2023 and called for an independent investigation after new testimonies emerged from women and men who claimed they were “sold” by the Catholic Church to adoptive families.
Also read: Long history of nuns abused by priests in India: AP investigation
Child sexual abuse and forced adoption have “broken trust” between the Church and society, De Croo said.
In a sign of unfinished work, the program of the open-online mass concluding Francis’ trip on Sunday had to be changed at the last minute after it came out that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse.
The error prompted the head of the Belgian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, to admit that the Church must do a better job of monitoring cases and perpetrators.
“This is a big challenge for us, but we have to think seriously with the help of lawyers and psychologists,” he told a local broadcaster. The composer, who died this month, reportedly settled a sexual harassment case in 2002.
In which
Argentina’s pope arrived in Belgium on Thursday (September 26, 2024) evening after a stay in neighboring Luxembourg, where he appealed for international diplomacy amid conflicts around the world.
He was welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, who hosted him on Friday morning, and he will meet with academics at the Dutch-speaking Catholic University of Leuven in Flanders – whose 600th anniversary next year is the official reason for Francis’ visit. .
On Saturday, during his 46th trip abroad, Francis will meet with clergy at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart before holding discussions with students in French-speaking Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia, particularly on climate issues.
The last papal visit to Brussels was in 1995, when John Paul II attended the beatification of Saint Damien, who gave life to lepers.
Nearly 65 percent of Belgium’s population is Christian, including 58 percent who are Catholic, according to figures from the University of Louvain.
But the numbers are shrinking, showing a decline across Europe.
During his weekly public audience, Francis said he hoped the visit could be “an opportunity for a new encouragement of faith”.
Published – 27 September 2024 15:14 IST
