Calls for debaptization multiply in Belgium after the pope’s controversial remarks during his visit

Some 200 Belgians intend to ask to be rebaptized. It is the consequence of the visit of Pope Francis which blew the wind of controversy from start to finish. More precisely, even on the plane which brought the sovereign pontiff back to Rome. During a meeting with journalists, he described doctors who perform abortions as “hired killers”.

The call for debaptization started with a message on social networks from Bernard De Vos, the former general delegate for children’s rights. De Vos speaks of being “fed up” and wants his defection “to be noted in the baptism register”. He no longer wants to be attached to the Church “in any form”.

His initiative quickly brought together 200 people. “The goal of this collective defection is therefore to move away from an individual approach and to make known a deep disagreement, shared by many citizens,” he explains in the columns of the Evening.

Bernard De Vos says he was shocked by the pope’s positions on the LGBTQIA+ community and the role of women, but the comments on abortion were “the last straw”. He hopes that his gesture will send “a signal” encouraging the Belgian Church to question itself, although he knows that this “will probably be of no use”. He calls himself agnostic, but does not deny the values ​​received from his believing parents. “Those who signed the request for debaptization are free to keep their religious faith if they have one…”

“Woman is fertile welcome”

If the pope intended to reconcile the Roman Catholic Church with those who have chosen the path of secularization, it is a failure. His speech in Louvain-la-Neuve, where he generally affirmed that a woman’s value is first and foremost through her uterus, outraged part of public opinion. “Woman is fertile welcome, care, vital devotion,” he declared. Rector Françoise Smets immediately expressed her disagreement with her prestigious guest. In a press release, she underlined “her incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis concerning the place of women in the Church and in society. A deterministic and reductive position with which UCLouvain can only disagree.”

This passing of arms, added to the tribute paid by the Pope to Baudouin, the Belgian king who opposed in 1990 the law on the (partial) decriminalization of abortion, but also to the remarks made by Francis in the return plane left a bitter taste. As if the sovereign pontiff had given with one hand by declaring war on pedophile priests, while taking back with the other via the condemnation of abortion.

The question now is whether requests for renaming will start to rise again. They had fallen sharply from 5,200 in 2021 to 1,270 in 2022, a drop of 75%. The sharp increase in 2021 would be due to the confirmation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of its position on homosexuality, which it considers a sin.

Cascading business

Since then, several cases have once again tarnished the image of the Church in Belgium. In 2023, the series of reports Godforsaken broadcast by the Flemish public channel VRT revealed all the suffering of the victims of abusive priests. The dioceses of Hasselt and Antwerp noted a sudden increase in requests for deletion from the baptismal register. Then, it was the case of babies snatched in the post-war period by nuns from single mothers, to be sold to families seeking adoption. Last September 29, on the flight back to Rome, Francis set the table again by taking on the supporters of abortion head-on: “An abortion is a homicide, the doctors who do this are, if you allow me the expression , hitmen.” And while he was at it, he settled scores with Françoise Smets, the rector of UCLouvain, considering that his press release “was made while I was speaking, she had prepared it and that is not moral!” . Finally, he refused to accept the theses of what he describes as dangerous feminism.

Since then, each camp has taken a position. Former socialist minister Rudy Demotte also calls for debaptization, describing the pope’s remarks in a Facebook post as “absolutely infamous and deeply reactionary.” “Remaining without acting,” he writes, “would amount to endorsing an attitude that no longer corresponds to my values. It is for this reason that I decided to officially request my debaptism. Rudy Demotte invites his compatriots to do the same.

On the opposite bank, the bishops of Belgium close ranks around the pope. Their spokesperson Tommy Scholtes explains that the sovereign pontiff “has the right to have an opinion”. He adds that “in the Catholic Church, the opinion is that abortion and euthanasia raise serious questions” and that “(the pope’s) opinion has been known for years on the subject.” As for the terms “hired killers” used by Francis, it would be an “Italian expression” which would have a somewhat different meaning than in French. “Which does not mean that behind this there is a strict qualification of people who perform abortions.”

Farewell to voluntary apostasy

One question remains: how to get “rebaptized”? It’s not that simple. The Church indeed judges that baptism is a sacred and irreversible gesture. In the past, the only alternative was “voluntary apostasy” under a rule called “actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica”. But in 2009, Benedict XVI had it removed from canon law. However, it is possible to be removed from the baptism lists. The act is administrative and loses symbolism. But the protest is there.

The papal trip to Belgium leaves behind a smell of sulfur. Remember that it was organized as part of the 600 years of the universities of Louvain, French-speaking and Flemish.