Beatification is a solemn act by which the pope, via a pontifical decree, recognizes that a person of Christian faith has practiced the virtues advocated by the Christian faith in an exemplary, or even heroic, manner.
The process of beatifying King Baudouin is expected to take several years, warned Rik Torfs, doctor of canon law and former rector of KULeuven. Pope Francis announced to everyone’s surprise, Sunday during a mass at the King Baudouin stadium, that he would initiate the process of beatification of the fifth Belgian king (1930-1993) upon his return to Rome. The sovereign pontiff returned to the Vatican early this afternoon after a four-day visit to Luxembourg and Belgium.
In Brussels, the head of the Catholic Church asked the bishops of Belgium to “take up this cause to advance it“. “A file will be created and will include the arguments in favor and against“of the beatification of the monarch, very pious.”Then, this file will be completed by a Vatican ministry. Ultimately, the final decision rests with the Pope. So it may still take a very long time” before King Baudouin was elevated to the rank of the Blessed, underlined the professor.
The former CD&V senator thus took the example of Father Damien (1840-1889), whose beatification procedure finally ended on June 4, 1995. Beatified by Pope John Paul II, the Belgian Jozef de Veuster , who dedicated his life to lepers forcibly exiled to the island of Molokai, was subsequently canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2009.
For Rik Torfs, however, there is no guarantee that King Baudouin’s file will actually lead to a beatification. Certain procedures are sometimes discreetly abandoned. “Traditionally, a miracle must also be attributed” they ran,”but we have already seen beatifications without miracles“, continued the specialist. Previously, the Vatican was accustomed to waiting 50 years after the death of the future Blessed to “analyze the file with more distance”.
Beatification is a solemn act by which the pope, via a pontifical decree, recognizes that a person of Christian faith has practiced the virtues advocated by the Christian faith in an exemplary, or even heroic, manner. King Baudouin is known to be a very pious figure in the Belgian monarchy. The sovereign and his wife Queen Fabiola were never able to have children. In March 1990, the fifth Belgian king announced to the government that he would not sign the law which partially decriminalized abortion, although it had been passed a few days earlier in parliament.
“The Pope considers the King’s position against the voluntary termination of pregnancy important“, commented the doctor of canon law. “In his time he would have opposed the law more than the Belgian bishops, which the Vatican appreciated“, concluded Mr. Torfs.
beatification of King Baudouin
