Faced with sexual violence, the Pope reaffirms that the Church must “ask for forgiveness”

Pope Francis, visiting Belgium, assured Friday that the Church must “be ashamed” and “ask for forgiveness” for sexual violence against minors committed by members of the clergy, while the expectations of victims are high in this country marked by scandals.

“The Church must be ashamed and ask for forgiveness, and seek to resolve this situation with Christian humility, and do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again,” the 87-year-old Argentine Jesuit told the assembled Belgian authorities. at Laeken Castle, residence of the royal couple in Brussels.

Francis, who had already promised “zero tolerance” on this subject, received at the end of the day at the nunciature in Brussels (the embassy of the Holy See) 17 victims of rape or sexual assault by clergy in Belgium.

During this two-hour meeting, “the participants were able to tell their story and their pain and express their expectations” to the pope, who “took note of the requests addressed to him in order to study them”, indicated the Vatican in a press release.

Friday morning, Francis also said he was “saddened” by the so-called “forced adoptions” scandal with the complicity of religious orders, a tragedy which affected thousands of Belgians between the end of the Second World War and the 1980s. .

The practice mainly concerned young single women, sometimes victims of rape or incest, whose parents wanted to hide the pregnancy. The latter put themselves in contact with religious orders, themselves in contact with families awaiting adoption. Many victims are still trying, decades later, to clarify the circumstances of these forced separations.

Both sexual violence against minors and forced adoptions have “seriously damaged” the confidence of Belgians in the Church, assured Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “Words are not enough today, concrete measures must be taken,” launched the Flemish liberal leader in a tone rarely seen in official papal visits.

The issue of child crime in the Belgian Church resurfaced in the fall of 2023 with the broadcast of a shocking documentary in which victims revealed a secret sometimes buried for decades, many deploring an omerta in the Church to protect the attackers and the fact of never having been able to obtain justice.

In an open letter published at the beginning of September by the daily Le Soir, victims demanded a strong word from Francis, asking him to establish a process of financial reparation, to organize a “fundamental reflection” on the celibacy of priests and to “strengthen the work of liberating speech, which is in reality only in its infancy”.

From Ireland to Germany via the United States, the multiplication of sexual scandals in the Church has constituted one of the most painful challenges for Pope Francis.

Among the measures taken since 2019 are the lifting of pontifical secrecy on sexual violence by the clergy, the obligation for religious and laity to report any case to their hierarchy, or the establishment of listening platforms in dioceses around the world. entire.

Before the Pope, the Belgian King Philippe spoke of all the victims of the “irreparable”, “marked for life” by the crimes of ecclesiastics. “It took so long for their cries to be heard and recognized,” argued the sovereign.

Arriving in Brussels on Thursday after an eight-hour stopover in Luxembourg, Pope Francis is due to spend three days in Belgium, culminating in a mass on Sunday at the King Baudouin stadium where more than 35,000 faithful are expected.

Friday afternoon, in front of professors and researchers from the Catholic University of Louvain in Flanders (the renowned KU Leuven), he called for “expanding the borders” in particular by developing attention to refugees and the weakest.

KU Leuven, founded in 1425, celebrates its 600th anniversary in the 2024-2025 academic year. Its French-speaking counterpart, UC Louvain, created in French-speaking Belgium following the heated linguistic disputes of the 1960s and where the Pope is expected on Saturday, will be associated with these celebrations.

The last papal visit to the country dates back to 1995, when John Paul II went to Brussels for the beatification of Father Damien, a 19th century missionary, since canonized.