Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A spokesman for Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium said the transcript of a meeting in April with a victim of clerical sexual abuse has been taken out of context. “There was no intention of any cover-up,” said Toon Osaer, spokesman for the cardinal, who retired in January as archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. “The cardinal [now] realizes he was rather naïve to think he could help the family in question reach a reconciliation,” he said. “At that moment, however, the family did not want to make public something they had kept secret for 24 years.” Belgium’s Flemish-language dailies, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad, published a transcript of the cardinal’s April meeting with relatives of the nephew of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruge [pictured]. The unnamed nephew had been abused between the ages of 5 and 18 by his uncle. Osaer said, “This was a totally confidential meeting, and the family intended to keep it all within the family,” the spokesman said. “This is why the cardinal tried to see if a reconciliation was possible.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Francis greets Professor Joseph Stiglitz at the "Debt Crisis in the Global South" meeting at the Vatican in June 2024 (Vatican Media)
An interview on economics and Catholic social teaching with Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist and a professor at Columbia University.
Kevin ClarkeApril 03, 2025
Lesson one: I had to buy more stamps.
Valerie SchultzApril 03, 2025
Celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea should give new energy to evangelization efforts, a new document from the International Theological Commission says.
In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell walk us through the pontiff’s recovery, including “slight improvements” in his speech.
Inside the VaticanApril 03, 2025