The Belgian Catholic Church has announced it is opening an online survey to hear from clerical abuse victims, as the religious organisation considers how to implement recommendations recently made by government inquiries into sexual abuse.
The survey will also gauge interest from victims in meeting Pope Francis when he visits Belgium in September of this year.
A documentary aired in September of last year by Flemish national broadcaster VRT, Godvergeten (which roughly translates to 'Godforsaken'), sent shockwaves through the Flanders community and gave voice to victims of abuse perpetrated by religious figures within parish, school and family settings.
It shone a fresh light on historic abuses within the Belgian Catholic Church, and led to both the Federal and Flemish parliaments establishing separate committees of inquiry. Both parliaments published their final reports in May of this year, each making at least 100 recommendations on how to address child abuse and sexual violence in the church and wider society.
The Bishop's Conference of Belgium (BCB), which is made up of Catholic bishops across the country, convened for two days this week to listen to the experiences of victims of sexual abuse, and create a "dialogue" about the best ways to implement recommendations made by the parliamentary committees.
The Belgian Catholic Church said on Friday that as it wants to hear from the "broadest possible group of victims", it is also opening an online form for victims.
Individuals who have previously been in touch with the Adriaenssens Commission (the Belgian Church's now defunct contact point for sexual abuse matters) or the Center for Arbitration for sexual abuse are invited to participate in the online survey. Individuals can email info.misbruik@kerknet.be to request a questionnaire.
Researchers from the University of Leuven will be assisting to analyse the results, but this processing will be done anonymously.
The survey is being managed on behalf of the Belgian Catholic Church by the Dignity Foundation. Chaired by Professor Manu Keirse, the foundation functions on behalf of the church as a central point of contact for victims of clerical abuse.
