The Church must “seek forgiveness” for the “scourge” of child sexual abuse: the Pope

Pope Francis said on Friday that the Catholic Church must “seek forgiveness” for the “scourge” of child sexual abuse during a visit to Belgium, where the Church’s dark past looms large.

In a speech to political and civil society leaders that opened his three-day visit to the country, Francis condemned “tragic cases of child abuse” as a stain on the Church’s heritage.

“This is our shame and our humiliation,” Francis told those gathered at the royal residence at Laeken Palace.

“The church should be ashamed and should seek forgiveness,” he said.

The 87-year-old pontiff is due to meet a group of clergy sex abuse victims in Brussels this afternoon as part of a three-day stay in the European nation marred by decades of scandal and cover-ups.

The meeting with about 15 victims, which took place at 6:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) at the Vatican’s diplomatic mission, was held with the “greatest discretion,” according to the Belgian church.

It was settled after a hard-hitting documentary last year brought the Belgian abuse scandal back to the front pages, prompting many new victims to come forward.

In an open letter published by Le Soir newspaper this month, some called for the pope to crack down on pedophilia and start a process for financial reparations.

“Words alone are not enough. Concrete measures must also be taken,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo said in the preamble to the Pope’s speech.

The pope said the abuse scandal was “a scourge that the Church is dealing with firmly and decisively by listening to and accompanying those who have been wounded and by implementing a program of prevention throughout the world.”

Forced adoptions

Francis has made the fight against sexual violence in the Church a central mission of his papacy and has insisted on a policy of “zero tolerance” following large-scale violence scandals around the world.

During his speech, Francis also said he was “saddened” to learn of a forced adoption scandal in Belgium, in which institutions run by nuns are giving up the babies of thousands of underage girls and unmarried women.

“We see the bitter fruit of misdeeds and crime mixed with what was unfortunately the prevailing opinion in all parts of society at the time,” he said.

Belgian news site HLN estimates that up to 30,000 children were taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.

Bishops in Belgium apologized in 2023 and called for an independent investigation after new testimonies emerged from women and people who claimed they had been “sold” by the Catholic Church to their adoptive parents.

Child sexual abuse and forced adoptions have “severely damaged the trust” between the Church and society, De Cro said.

In a sign of the work to be done, the program for the open-air Mass ending Francis’ trip on Sunday had to be changed at the last minute after it emerged that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse.

The blunder prompted the head of the Belgian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, to admit that the Church needed to do better at tracking the cases and the perpetrators.

“This is a big challenge for us, but we have to think about it seriously with the help of lawyers and psychologists,” he told local television. The composer, who died this month, reportedly settled a sexual assault lawsuit in 2002.

At sunset

The Argentine pope arrived in Belgium on Thursday evening after spending the day in neighboring Luxembourg, where he called for international diplomacy amid simmering conflicts around the world.

He was welcomed by King Philip and Queen Mathilda, who received him on Friday morning, and he will target academics at the Catholic University of Leuven in Dutch-speaking Flanders – whose 600th anniversary next year is the official reason for Francis’ visit.

On Saturday, on his 46th trip abroad, Francis will meet with clergy at the vast Basilica of the Sacred Heart before holding discussions with students in Louvain-la-Neuve in French-speaking Wallonia, particularly on climate issues.

The last papal visit to Brussels was in 1995, when John Paul II attended the beatification of Saint Damien, who dedicated his life to lepers.

Nearly 65% ​​of Belgium’s population is Christian, including 58% Catholic, according to figures from the University of Louvain.

But their numbers are falling, mirroring a decline across Europe.

During his weekly general audience, Francis said he hoped his visit would be “an opportunity for a new boost of faith”.

(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated channel.)