Pope Meets with Victims Abused by Belgian Clergy
Pope Francis on the 29th (local time) urged the Belgian Catholic Church to judge clergy who committed sexual abuse and to stop covering up crimes.
During a mass held at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, the Pope stated, "Evil must be exposed," departing from his originally prepared sermon. The day before, the Pope met with 17 victims who had suffered sexual abuse by Belgian clergy. In a private meeting, the victims reportedly expressed the trauma they endured from the sexual abuse and complained that the church responded insincerely when they reported the abuse.
The Pope moved to Belgium after a day trip to Luxembourg on the 26th and stayed for four days. The initial purpose of the visit to Belgium was to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic University of Louvain, the oldest Catholic university in the world. However, the issue of sexual abuse, a long-standing problem within the Belgian Catholic Church, was brought into sharp focus during the Pope's visit.
In particular, on the 27th, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, in his welcoming speech to the Pope, called for additional measures regarding the Catholic Church's sexual abuse and forced adoption victims, stating, "Words alone are insufficient. Concrete actions are necessary." Prime Minister De Croo also said, "The Catholic Church's trust has been severely damaged due to numerous cases of sexual abuse and forced adoption."
King Philippe also acknowledged that the Pope has taken steps to address the issue but urged that "efforts to heal irreparable wounds must continue relentlessly."
Meanwhile, in Belgium, more than 700 complaints and reports of abuse within the Catholic Church have been filed since 2012. It is estimated that 30,000 children were forcibly adopted. The Belgian Church arranged adoptions of infants born to unmarried mothers from 1945 through the 1980s.
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