Pope Francis Calls for Church to Seek Forgiveness over Child Sexual Abuse in Belgium
Pope Francis has arrived in Belgium for a three-day visit, during which he has appealed to the Catholic Church to seek forgiveness for its failures to address the scourge of child sexual abuse. Speaking before political and civil society leaders, Francis labeled child abuse as a stain on the Church’s legacy and a “scourge” that the Church is working to address.
“We see how the bitter fruit of wrongdoing and criminality was mixed in with what was unfortunately the prevailing view in all parts of society at that time,” he said, referencing a forced adoption scandal in Belgium in which thousands of children were taken from their mothers. Francis has made combating sexual assault in the Church a central mission of his papacy, and has reiterated a “zero tolerance” policy towards abusers.
As part of his trip, Francis will meet with around 15 victims of clerical sexual assault on Saturday, an encounter organized after a recent documentary uncovered a decades-long cover-up of abuse in Belgium. The meeting is being held with “utmost discretion”, according to the Belgian church.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo welcomed Francis’ words and urged the Church to follow them up with concrete measures, saying that “words alone are not enough”.
Francis’ visit is the first to Belgium by the Argentinian Pope since 1995, and comes at a time of declining church attendance across Europe. While nearly two-thirds of Belgium’s population still identifies as Christian, including 58% who are Catholic, the country has seen a significant decrease in church participation in recent years.
As part of his visit, Francis is scheduled to meet with students and academics to discuss topics including climate change and diplomatic relations. His trip follows a similar plea for diplomacy in Luxembourg, where he addressed flaring conflicts worldwide.
In his weekly general audience, Francis expressed hopes that his visit could become an opportunity for a “new impetus of faith”. However, the event is also marred by a recent blunder: the program of an open-air mass was changed after it emerged that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse. The Church acknowledged that it needed to better keep track of cases and perpetrators, with Archbishop Luc Terlinden admitting it represented a “great challenge”.
As Pope Francis ends his trip on Sunday, the question remains whether he will be able to reconcile the Church’s dark past with its commitment to accountability and justice for victims of sexual abuse.
