The procedure for the beatification of King Baudouin was initiated on December 17, according to a note from the dicastery of the Causes of Saints, reports the specialized media Vatican News. Pope Francis announced, during his visit to Belgium last September, that he would initiate the “beatification process” of the fifth Belgian king upon his return to the Vatican.
The Dicastery of the Causes of Saints, in charge of research into the causes of beatification and canonization of the Catholic Church, launched the procedure surrounding the beatification of King Baudouin, with the creation of an ordinary Historical Commission. This one, “composed of eminent specialists in archival research and the history of Belgium”will be responsible for gathering and evaluating the documentation surrounding King Baudouin, indicates the note reported by Vatican News.
This is only the start of a procedure that could take several years, according to experts. It is the pope who will ultimately be responsible for whether or not to proceed with the beatification, via a pontifical decree.
King Baudouin, who reigned over Belgium from 1951 until his death in 1993, declared his impossibility of reigning for 36 hours in 1990, so as not to sign a bill on the partial decriminalization of abortion. The King declared that he refused to sign this text in the name of his faith.
Pope Francis, who visited the tomb of King Baudouin in the royal crypt in Laeken in September, for his part underlined the “courage” of the sovereign when the latter chose to “leave his place as King so as not to sign a murderous law”. His comments on abortion as well as others on women had particularly shocked the associative, academic and medical worlds.
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