The Catholic Church has ceased payments to four priests connected to sexual abuse following public outcry at the revelations of VRT documentary 'Godvergeten' (loosely translated as 'Godforsaken' in English).
Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt announced this on Thursday, adding that four more priests were in the process of being removed from the payroll. Abuses within the Church and continued public financing of the institution came under sharp scrutiny following VRT's four-part series which aired in September. The Federal and Flemish Parliaments subsequently set up committees to investigate numerous sexual abuse allegations against the Church.
One priest, Roger Vangheluwe, was relocated to an abbey in Solesmes in northwestern France when his sexual abuse crimes came to light. For Van Tigchelt, the Pope's visit to Belgium can only go ahead if "work is done" on the Vangheluwe case.
Litany of scandals
Another damning revelation runs alongside stories of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy: the illegal adoption of children at the hands of nuns. A podcast by Het Laatste Nieuws entitled 'Children of the Church' revealed that up to 30,000 women were institutionalised and had their babies forcibly taken from them between the end of World War Two and the late 1980s. Nuns then sold the children to adoptive parents for profit.
In an emotional address to Parliament on Thursday morning, N-VA Minister Kamerlid Yngvild Ingels revealed that she had been one of those babies and had never succeeded in reuniting with her biological mother. "The testimonies in the paper this morning make a difference. I am also grateful that a birth mother finally spoke out, because we very rarely hear that. I don't know how old my biological mother was, but I'm well into my 40s now. We don't have much time anymore."
Van Tigchelt stated that the remit of the sexual abuse investigations should expand to include the treatment of women in these institutions. However, he conceded that legal punishment may not be possible given that human trafficking was only made illegal in 1995.
Papal visit would be 'fodder for cartoonists'
Given the horrific details pervading testimonies of both sexual abuse victims and human trafficking victims, questions have been raised over the appropriateness of Pope Francis' 2024 visit to Belgium.
While some such as N-VA leader Jan Jambon say the visit would be a courageous decision on the part of Pope Francis, priest and activist Rik Devillé derisively referred to the forecasted visit as "fodder for cartoonists". Devillé has sent hundreds of letters to the Vatican regarding sexual abuse cases in Belgium and has only ever received two "meaningless" letters acknowledging receipt in response, he told De Morgen.
Zolang het stil blijft in Rome en ze niet actief sanctionerend ingrijpen tav daders en verzwijgers van seksueel misbruik in de (Belgische) kerk, is het evident dat een bezoek van de paus aan ons land NIET gewenst is.
Actie of wegblijven, dat moet de eendrachtige boodschap zijn. — Gwendolyn Rutten (@RuttenGwendolyn) September 28, 2023
Tweet Translation: As long as Rome remains quiet and does not actively sanction perpetrators and concealers of sexual abuse in the (Belgian) church, a visit by the Pope to our country is NOT desirable. Do something or stay away, that must be the unified message.
Open Vld MP Gwendolyn Rutten declared on social media that a Papal visit would be undesirable, telling the Church to "do something or stay away."
Meanwhile, Vooruit MP and chair of the Flemish Parliament's committee investigating sexual abuse in the Church Hannelore Goeman described the visit as "a unique opportunity" for the Pope to give victims "the recognition they have been seeking for so long."
