Arriving around 9:30 a.m. at Laeken Castle, the Pope was received with great pomp. After a private audience, he went with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde to the great gallery where 300 guests, including representatives of religions, the Catholic clergy and the political world, were ready to listen to him. In the front row, we also found King Albert II and Queen Paola. After the speeches of the King and the Prime Minister, Pope Francis began his address, dwelling on the painful issue of sexual abuse committed by priests.
“The Church lives, often with results of great generosity and splendid dedication, and sometimes, unfortunately, with the emergence of painful counter-testimonies”he declared. “I am thinking of the dramatic events of child abuse to which the King and the Prime Minister referred. A scourge which the Church is tackling with determination and firmness, by listening to and accompanying those injured and by implementing a vast prevention program throughout the world.”
Des “crimes”
Visibly touched by the seriousness of the situation, the Pope deliberately deviated from the text prepared and distributed to journalists to condemn the abuses even more firmly, not hesitating to use the word “crime”. “Brothers and sisters, this is shame! The shame that we must all face today, ask for forgiveness and solve the problem: the shame of child abuse”he declared. “Today, in the Church, there is this crime; the Church must be ashamed of it, ask for forgiveness and strive to resolve this situation with Christian humility. And put in place all the conditions so that this doesn’t happen again.”
Pope Francis also wanted to respond to an argument often put forward to minimize the responsibility of the clergy: “Someone said to me: “Holiness, consider that, according to statistics, the vast majority of abuse occurs in the family, the neighborhood, the world of sport or at school.” But just one is enough to be ashamed.”he believes. “This is our shame and humiliation.”
The Pope also addressed another painful issue: that of young women, alone and pregnant, sent by their families to give birth in Catholic institutions, and who then had their child taken away so that it could be “sold” to families of ‘welcome. Of the “forced adoptions which would concern 30,000 children born between 1945 and 1980.
“In these painful stories was mixed the bitter fruit of a crime with what was unfortunately the result of a mentality widespread in all strata of society, to the point that those who acted in accordance with this mentality believed in conscience do good, both for the child and for the mother”said Pope Francis. “I pray to the Lord that the Church will always find within herself the strength to clarify and not conform to the dominant culture, even when the latter uses – by manipulating – the values derived from the Gospel to derive benefits from them. undue conclusions, with their serious consequences of suffering and exclusion.”
Successful meeting with the Belgian company
The pope was expected on these sensitive issues. During this first meeting of a more political nature, Pope Francis partly exchanged his clothes as head of the Catholic Church for those of head of state, responding in a clear and direct manner to the questions of the King and of ‘Alexander De Croo. Even if before the Pope’s intervention, our sovereign had praised his action against “these abominable crimes”. The Prime Minister, for his part, stressed that the clergy must go further: “You are committed to a fair approach. But there is still a long way to go.”said Alexander De Croo. “The servants of the Church work with conviction and charity. But when something goes wrong, we cannot accept that the matter is hushed up… This is why, today, words are no longer enough. We also need to take concrete actions.”
Faced with these questions, the Holy Father responded with firmness and clarity, leaving no room for ambiguity.
