During his homily closing his trip to Luxembourg and Belgium, Pope Francis returned to the painful issue of sexual abuse and considered that “in the Church, there is room for everyone, but that everyone the world will be judged.” He also elevated as a model of “feminine holiness” the way of life of the new blessed sister Anne of Jesus.
Jean-Benoît Harel – Vatican City
At the end of his three-day trip to Belgium, Pope Francis presided over Sunday mass in the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels this Sunday, September 29. After various meetings particularly devoted to young people, ecology and abuse in the Church, Francis returned in his homily to “the danger of scandalizing, that is to say of hindering the path of the “little ones”“. Referring to his meeting with 17 victims of sexual abuse, François repeated that “in the Church, there is room for everyone”more than “everyone will be judged».
He continued by condemning the abuses but also the concealment of the facts: “I ask everyone: don’t cover up abuse. I ask the bishops: do not cover up abuse. Convict the abusers and help them recover from the disease of abuse“, he implored. For the Holy Father, abuses must not be hidden “and the abuser must be judged: whether he is a layman, priest or bishop, let him be judged!“. The crowd present greeted his words with loud applause.
In front of around 40,000 people and representatives of all religions from Belgium, the Holy Father proposed to dwell on this “strong and severe warning» through three words: opening, communion et testimony.
Imitating God’s Openness
In the first reading, two men receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and begin to prophesy. While those close to Moses want to prevent them, Moses on the contrary rejoices: “If the Lord could make all his people a people of prophets!“. These opening words of Moses are also taken up in the Gospel of Saint Mark, when Jesus recommends to his disciples not to hinder those who act in his name. For Francis, Jesus invites his disciples “to go beyond their patterns, not to let themselves be “scandalized” by the freedom of God».
Drawing a parallel between the two scenes, the Holy Father insists on the fact that the Christian life gives a mission in the Church. But “it is a gift and not a title to brag about», he further specifies.
“The Community of believers is not a circle of privileged people, it is a family of the saved, and we are not sent to bring the Gospel to the world by our own merits, but by the grace of God, by his mercy and by the trust that, beyond all our limits and our sins, He continues to place in us with a Father’s love, seeing in us what we ourselves are unable to perceive.
Thus, continues the Successor of Peter, far from being in jealousy and resentment, “if we want to cooperate in the free action of the Spirit without being a scandal (…) we must accomplish our mission with humility, gratitude and joy».
Pope Francis during mass in the Brussels stadium.
Communion between brothers, at the heart of the Gospel
Hope “that we all find ourselves one day reunited in the arms of the Father» must make it understood that the only path of life is that of giving and sharing, underlined the Pope, opposing selfishness. “Selfishness, like everything that prevents charity, is “scandalous” because it crushes the little ones, humiliating the dignity of people and stifling the cry of the poor.“, he continued.
Faced with a world that favors “the sole principles of personal interest and market logic (…), there is no longer room for those who are in difficulty, nor mercy for those who make mistakes, nor compassion for those who suffer and can’t get out of it“. So it is with migrants, “qwho dream of a better world and (…) and end up being victims of exploitation», insisted Francis on this World Migrant and Refugee Day.
“Let us listen to what Jesus says in the Gospel: far from us the scandalous eye that sees the needy and turns away! Far from us the scandalous hand, which closes its fist to hide its treasures and withdraws greedily into its pockets! Far from us the scandalous foot, which runs quickly not to be close to those who suffer, but to “go beyond” and keep at a distance! Let’s throw all this away from us!”
Francis then recalled the importance of putting the Gospel at the basis of different life choices. “Without love, nothing lasts, everything vanishes, disintegrates and leaves us prisoners of an ephemeral, empty and meaningless life, of an inconsistent world which, beyond the facades, has lost all credibility, because ‘he scandalized the little ones», recalled the Pope.
A model of “feminine holiness”
Citing the various Belgian saints such as Saint Gudule, patron saint of the country (c. 650-c. 712) or Saint Guidon of Anderlecht, the pilgrim friend of the poor (+1012), Francis praised the missionary enthusiasm of the numerous Belgian missionaries in through the centuries, whichhave proclaimed the Gospel in various parts of the world, sometimes to the point of sacrificing their lives».
The Sovereign Pontiff then spoke of the Carmelite nun Anne of Jesus, whose beatification he pronounced at the start of the celebration. Following a “giant of the mind», Saint Teresa of Avila, and in times disrupted by the Protestant Reformation, Sister Anne of Jesus and her companions «were able to bring many people back to the faith, to the point that someone called their founding in this city a “spiritual magnet”.”
«Through her way of life, she helped to raise the Church at a time of great difficulty.», Estimated Francis, before encouraging the faithful present to welcome this “model of “feminine holiness”», which stimulates us to walk in the footsteps of the Lord.
At the end of Mass, the Pope renewed his call to see in “each face of our migrant brothers and sisters, the face of Christ who became a pilgrim in our midst“. He finally announced that, upon his return to Rome, he would open the process of beatification of King Baudouin, Belgian sovereign from 1951 to 1993, who had refused to countersign a law legalizing abortion.
Mass of Pope Francis in the King Baudouin stadium in Belgium this Sunday, September 29.
