The Pope said this Saturday in Brussels, in a meeting with priests and nuns in the Koekelberg basilica, that sexual abuse of the faithful by clerics has created “atrocious suffering and wounds” that undermine faith.
He added that behind the violence “is the abuse of power, when we use our roles to crush or manipulate others.”
Since his arrival in Belgium, which will conclude this Sunday, the issue of abuse against faithful children and adolescents over a long period of time has become far from the main issue of the Pope’s stay.
The Prime Minister and the King of Belgium himself, Philip, reproached him for this at the welcome ceremony, to which victims of clerical sexual abuse when they were children and adolescents had also been invited. The Pope reacted by assuming all “shame and humiliation” for what happened.
This Friday, Francisco received 17 of the abused at the headquarters of the nunciature and spoke with them for two hours. The victims told him their stories and everyone They demanded that the Church help them in recovery therapies and in long-term cures.
Testimonials
Although the total number of cases over a long period of time dates back to more than 1,900 victims, There are some stories that have caused special indignation among the faithful of the Church, which is continually losing followers in the last fifteen years.
The most resonant case is that of the bishop of the city of Bruges, Roger Vanghelluve, removed from office for having raped his nephew for fourteen years. But Vanghelluve was not reduced to lay status until the beginning of this year and many believe that this was due to the planned arrival of the Argentine pontiff.
Mia De Schamphelaere, representative of the victim support centers, presented cases to the Pope at the meeting in the cathedral. He said that “Bishop Vangheluwe’s confession of abuse produced a great social upheaval, with an avalanche of victims declaring for the first time in their lives that they had suffered abuse when they were children at the hands of a priest or religious.”
Shamphelaere said in front of the Pope: “Like many citizens, we feel horror, sadness and helplessness. We also feel shocked and ashamed as believers.”
Francisco thanked the centers for their work, reports the EFE agency, “to transform anger and pain into help, closeness and compassion.”
“Abuse generates atrocious suffering and wounds, even diminishing the path of faith. And a lot of mercy is needed to make them feel our closeness and offer them all the help possible to learn from the victims to be a Church that becomes a servant of all without subjugating anyone,” he added.
The pontiff said that “it is right to follow the paths of earthly justice and the human, psychological and penal itineraries, but punishment must be medicine, it must lead to healing. People need to be helped to get up and find their way in life and in society.”
Breakfast and craft beer
Jorge Bergoglio began the day on Saturday having breakfast with a group of ten homeless and immigrant people in the parish of Saint Gilles, in Brussels. They told their stories to the pontiff and gave some bottles of the beer they brew there to the pontiff.
The Pope thanked them for the beer, breakfast and company and said that the true wealth of the Church is caring for the weakest.
In the afternoon Francis went to the royal crypt, under the church of Our Lady of Lekn and stopped to pray at the tomb of King Baudouin. He praised his “bravery” for abandoning his position as king so as not to sign “a murderous law.” The pontiff was referring to He resigned from the throne for three days to avoid signing the abortion law in 1990. A fervent Catholic, he did not have to sign its entry into force.
The Pope was welcomed by the Belgian kings Philip and Matilda, who came “out of courtesy.” The Pope hoped that the process of beatification of King Baudouin would continue, added a note from the Vatican.
At 4 p.m. the Pope went to a meeting at the Catholic University of Louvain in French, located in the new Louvain, after having been yesterday at the same university but in the Flemish-Dutch language. Both are celebrating their 600th anniversary as one of the most prestigious centers of higher education in Europe.
Criticism of the role of women in the Church
A dialogue between the Pope and the students was planned, who presented a letter to Francis arising from a common reflection on the role of women. They argued that “Catholic theology tends to reinforce the division of labor between men and women through its theology of women, which exalts their maternal role and prohibits their access to ordained ministries.”
The Pope explained that “the feminine is not established by consensus or ideologies.” He said that “the Church is the people of God, not a multinational” and that “the relationships that express our being the image of God, man and woman, are together and not separated.”
Regarding the role of women in the Church, Francis responded: “It is an issue that worries you and even more so to me and my predecessors.” But he affirmed that “the Church is the people of God, not a multinational company.”
“What characterizes women, that is, what is feminine, is not established by consensus or by ideologies,” added the Argentine Pope.
From New Louvain the Pope went to the College of Saint Michel, 23 kilometers from Brussels, where a dialogue meeting with the Jesuits of Belgium, the order to which Francis belongs, was scheduled. These meetings are planned on all your trips.
On Sunday at 9 the pontiff will go to the Brussels stadium for the beatification mass of Anne of Jesus, which will be preceded by a tour in an open car through various sectors of the stadium with capacity for 35 thousand people.
At noon there will be a farewell ceremony at the air base. The Pope will return to Rome and arrival at Fiumicino airport is scheduled at 2:55 p.m., five hours less in Argentina.