Visiting Belgium for the weekend, Pope Francis sparked controversy after making controversial remarks on the place of women in the Catholic Church and on gender equality, during an exchange at university French-speaking Catholic from Louvain-la-Neuve.
Pope Francis heckled by his Belgian faithful. After a visit to Luxembourg this Thursday, the sovereign pontiff is in Belgium this weekend. On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the French-speaking Catholic university of Louvain-la-Neuve, he was to host an exchange with his faithful in this place on the theme of ecology and the climate crisis.
Questioned by students and professors on social justice and poverty, “majority female” due to the “system of domination”, the sovereign pontiff gave a response which did not appeal to his audience.
“The Church is a woman. What characterizes women, what is feminine, is not determined by consensus or ideologies,” the Pope said, without concretely addressing the prospects for the evolution of women in the Church.
This exchange in Belgium took place a few days before the opening at the Vatican of the General Assembly of the Synod on the future of the Church, a vast project of the Pope which focuses in particular on the place of women in the latter.
The university is outraged by the pope’s “reductive position”
In the wake of this intervention, the Catholic University of Louvain published a press release to express its “incomprehension” and its “disapproval” after the remarks made by the pope. She spoke of “a reductive position” of the sovereign pontiff, going against the “inclusive” value of the establishment, when the pope indicated that the woman is “fruitful welcome, care, vital dedication”.
Valentine Hendrix, one of the students present at this event, said she was “extremely disappointed” by the pope’s comments regarding gender equality. “He really left us on the sidelines, we are really shocked by what he said about the role of women in society: we have a fertile, marital, maternity role, today it is exactly everything we want to free ourselves from,” said the 22-year-old student.
This disappointment was shared by climatologist Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele, a figure in the French-speaking Catholic university, who assured that the pope “did not live up to” the question posed. “To answer “The Church is a woman” completely misses the heart of the question,” said the latter.
Luc Sels, rector of KU Leuven, the Flemish counterpart of the Catholic University of Louvain, had already discussed this theme with the Pope on Friday. He had raised the “big difference between men and women in the Church”. “Wouldn’t the Church be warmer with a more important place given to women also in the priesthood?” questioned Luc Sels, without the pope providing the slightest answer.
Pope sparks controversy with tribute to King Baudoin
Pope Francis sparked another controversy earlier this Saturday by deviating from his official program to bow in Brussels at the tomb of the former Belgian sovereign Baudouin (1951-1993). He particularly praised the “courage” of the latter for having opposed the “killer law” on abortion in 1990.
The Belgian royal palace made it clear that King Philippe, nephew of King Baudouin, and his wife Mathilde had accompanied the Pope “out of courtesy” during this “impromptu visit of a strictly private nature” to the royal crypt of Laeken.
Arriving Thursday evening in Belgium, the pope must conclude his visit on Sunday with a high mass at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, where more than 35,000 faithful are expected.
