Indeed, Pope Francis met for two hours with fifteen people victims of sexual violence in the Church. He declared that the Church should “to be ashamed and ask for forgiveness”. Which was done a few days later in Rome, during the penitential vigil opening the synod on synodality. During mass at the King Baudoin stadium on Sunday morning, in the presence of nearly 40,000 people, Pope Francis firmly asked: “There is room in the Church for everyone, everyone, everyone, but we will all be judged and there is no room for abuse, no room for covering up abuse. I ask everyone: don’t cover up abuse! I ask the bishops: do not cover up abuse! Condemn abusers and help them heal from the disease of abuse. Evil must not be hidden: evil must be revealed in broad daylight, it must be known, like some abused people did it, and with courage. Let this be known. And let the abuser be judged. Let the abuser be judged, layman, priest or bishop: let him be judged. » Words that the crowd greeted with loud applause.
François also visited the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve which was celebrating its 600th anniversary.th birthday. A difficult stage of his journey as Jacques Galloy recounts, with great sadness: “We saw that the academic world no longer had the language to understand what the Pope said. Pope Francis was, in a way, crucified for having recalled anthropological foundations such as the complementarity of men and women. But on the other hand, we can also say that the Pope did not find the words to touch hearts. » Before adding: “It’s a shame that such a magnificent journey is marred by unfortunate words that the world is no longer able to decode and understand. »
Belgium, like France, explains Jacques “is a country where the Christian fabric has had exceptional social fertility: through schools, hospitals… Works which are today diluted in the spirit of the world and distanced from the gospel. We must put the gospel back at the heart of Christian social works. »
Another highlight of this trip was the meeting, Saturday morning, in the Koekelberg basilica, of nearly 3,200 people involved in the Church. To whom the Pope reminded his vision of a Church “ which never closes its doors. Let us fix this in our hearts: God never withdraws his love for us. “But Father, even when I have committed something serious?” God never withdraws his love for you. »
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