In his first speech in Belgium, Pope Francis spoke directly on the abuse scandal that has shocked the church and the nation here. He denounced the sexual abuse of children by clergy in this country as “a crime” and said that “the church should be ashamed of itself and humbly ask pardon.”
He began this part of his talk by saying the church “is holy because she has been founded by the Lord,” “proclaims the good news that can fill our hearts with joy” and does “works of charity and countless examples of love for our neighbor.” And yet, Francis said, “her members do not always understand and live the message of the Gospel in all its purity and fullness.”
“In this perennial coexistence of light and shadow, the church carries out her mission, often with examples of great generosity and heartfelt dedication,” he said, “but sadly, at times, with the emergence of painful counter-testimonies. I refer to the tragic instances of child abuse—which the prime minister and the king mentioned in their speeches—which is a scourge that the church is addressing firmly and decisively by listening to and accompanying those who have been wounded, and by implementing a prevention program throughout the world.”
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s welcome speech at the start of Francis’ visit was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip, where the dictates of diplomatic protocol usually keep outrage out of public remarks. Even King Philippe had strong words for Francis, demanding the church work “incessantly” to atone for the crimes and help victims heal.
Their tone underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium, where two decades of revelations of abuse and systematic cover-ups have devastated the hierarchy’s credibility and contributed to an overall decline in Catholicism and the influence of the once-powerful church.
“Today, words alone do not suffice. We also need concrete steps,” Mr. De Croo told Francis and an audience of royals, church officials, diplomats and politicians at Laeken Castle, the residence of Belgium’s royal family.
“Victims need to be heard. They need to be at the center. They have a right to truth. Misdeeds need to be recognized,” he said. “When something goes wrong we cannot accept cover-ups. To be able to look into the future, the church needs to come clean on its past.”
“You have condemned strongly the horrible tragedies of abuse in the church,” King Phillipe said in his address to the pope. “You have established changes to combat this violence. Many children were done enormous harm, and they will carry that for the rest of their lives, and that is also true for the victims of forced adoptions. It has taken a long time before their cries were heard and recognized and already for a long time we are looking for ways to restore the unrestorable.”
“We know how much the Belgian church does for this,” he added, “but their efforts should continue always.”
Revelations of Belgium’s horrific abuse scandal have dribbled out in bits over a quarter-century, punctuated by a bombshell in 2010 when the country’s longest-serving bishop, Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, was allowed to resign without punishment after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.
Francis only laicized Bishop Vangheluwe earlier this year, removing a lingering source of outrage among Belgians before his visit.
Francis applauded at the end of Mr. De Croo’s speech and was expected to meet with victims in private later in the visit.
“Brothers and sisters, this is the shame which we have today, we must take in hand and ask pardon and resolve the problem: the shame of abuse, the abuse of minors,” Pope Francis said, going off script after listening to the prime minister and king. “The church should be ashamed of itself and ask pardon and resolve this situation with Christian humility and should create the conditions to prevent it from happening ever again.”
Noting that some people tell him that the abuse of minors also happens in families and the sports world, the pope said: “Even if there is one case [of abuse] in the church, this is sufficient for us to feel shame. We can only ask pardon, and this is our shame and our humiliation. Let the others ask pardon for their part.”
Returning to his script, Francis said he was also “saddened” to learn about the practice of forced adoptions. After World War II and through to the 1980s, many single mothers were forced by the Belgian church to offer their newborns up for adoption. Often the mothers barely saw their babies before nuns took them away, and the babies were then placed for adoption, with money changing hands.
For those adopted, it is close to impossible now to find their birth mothers, since the records have long ago disappeared.
“Frequently, the family and other actors in society, including within the church, thought that in order to avoid the stigma that unfortunately fell upon unmarried mothers in those times, it would be preferable for the good of both the child and the mother that the child be given up for adoption,” the pope said. “There were even cases in which some women were not given the possibility of choosing between keeping their children or giving them up for adoption.”
Returning to his prepared text, he said, “As the successor of the Apostle Peter, I pray to the Lord that the church will always find within herself the strength to bring clarity and never conform to the predominant culture, even when that culture uses, in a manipulative way, values derived from the Gospel, drawing from it inauthentic conclusions that cause suffering and exclusion.”
The pope’s talk was delivered after he was welcomed to the residence of the king and queen of Belgium with full honors, including an escort of guards on horseback that accompanied his car as it arrived at the castle. They also flew the Vatican flag from the castel’s rooftop. Last evening, the king and queen welcomed him at the airport, despite the cold wind and rain, together with a choir of children singing “Amazing Grace.”
His talk focused not only on the sex abuse scandal but also on war and peace, and he issued a dire warning saying, “We are almost at another world war!”
Francis expressed his joy at visiting “great little Belgium,” a country that is “not a large state” but has “an impactful” history and is “the beating heart of an enormous organism,” a reference to Brussels’ status as the de facto capital of the European Union.
He recalled how in the aftermath of the Second World War, “the exhausted and downhearted peoples of Europe, in beginning a profound process of peace, cooperation and integration” looked to Belgium “as a natural location to establish key European institutions” because the country “was sandwiched between France and Germany, two countries that had most embodied the opposing nationalistic ideals underlying the conflict.”
He described Belgium as “a bridge” between the different countries of Europe “enabling concord to spread and disputes to abate,” a bridge “that promotes trade, connects and brings cultures into dialogue. An indispensable bridge for rejecting war and building peace.”
Then, departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis said, “At this historical moment, Belgium has a great role to play because we are almost near a world war.”
“Peace and harmony are never won once and for all,” the pope said. “On the contrary, they are a duty and a mission that needs to be undertaken unceasingly, with great care and patience. For when human beings forget the memory of the past and its valuable lessons, they run the dangerous risk of once again falling backward, even after having moved on, forgetting the suffering and appalling costs paid by previous generations.”
In this regard, he said, “Belgium is more essential than ever for keeping alive the memory of the European continent.”
“Belgium’s history,” the pope said, “calls Europe to return to its path, rediscover its true identity and invest once again in the future by opening itself to life and hope by overcoming the demographic winter and the torments of war!”
Later in his speech, Francis repeated what he said yesterday in Luxembourg: that he has been told that in some countries in Europe “the investment that gives the greatest return is the arms industry.” Though he did not mention Belgium by name, his words had particular significance here given the country’s thriving arms industry.
Francis went on to speak about the faith in the Risen Christ and how “the Catholic Church wishes to be a presence offering individuals, families, societies and nations a hope both ancient and ever new. A presence helping everyone to face challenges and difficulties, not with frivolous enthusiasm or bleak pessimism, but with the certainty that humanity, loved by God, is not destined to collapse into nothingness but is eternally called to goodness and peace.”
“I pray that the leaders of the nations, by looking at Belgium and its history, will be able to learn from it,” he said. “In this way, they can spare their people endless misfortunes and sorrow. I likewise pray that those in government will know how to take up the responsibility, the risk and the honor of peace, knowing how to avoid the danger, disgrace and absurdity of war. I pray, too, that they will fear the judgment of conscience, the judgment of history and of God so that their hearts and minds will be converted so as always to put the common good first.”
After his address at the castle, Pope Francis returned to the nunciature. Later today or tomorrow, he is expected to meet privately with 15 victims of abuse, some of whom have penned a letter demanding reparations programs to compensate them for their trauma and pay for the lifelong therapy many need.
This article includes material from The Associated Press.
