The Belgian government does not take responsibility for the actions and statements of visiting foreign heads of State, the Office of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Monday, following criticism of remarks made by Pope Francis over the weekend.
“Constitutionally, the government covers the King, not the visiting head of state, whose remarks fall under free speech,” the Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement. “There will be no government response, but it should be clear that the Pope’s statements are far from what the majority of the Belgian population and its politicians think.”
Over the weekend, Pope Francis made several strong comments about women and abortion. At the Catholic University of Louvain, he said: “Womanhood speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing and life-giving dedication.
"For this reason, a woman is more important than a man, but it is terrible when a woman wants to be a man: No, she is a woman, and this is ‘heavy’ and important.”
The university later distanced itself from these remarks.
At the royal crypt in Laeken, during a visit to the tomb of the late King Baudouin, the Pope praised the former Belgian monarch’s courage for temporarily abdicating to avoid signing “a murderous law.”
And on his flight back to Rome, the Pope referred to doctors who perform abortions as “contract killers.”
