AFPBishop Johan Bonny speaks to the press about Bishop Roger Vangheluwe
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 13:57
Belgium has been in the grip of the abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church since the beginning of this month. No new revelations about abuse, but explicit personal testimonies from victims of the long-known abuse scandal lead to disgust, sadness and great anger. It is raining deregistrations from the church, politicians are calling for a parliamentary inquiry and even the financing of the church is under discussion.
The source of all recovered emotions is the documentary series Godforsaken from the public broadcaster VRT, which compellingly outlines how horrific the systematic abuse has been. The series gives a face to the brothers Jan and Staf, who were abused for years without knowing about each other. And to Nina, who has been abused since she was thirteen and was recently discouraged from taking legal action.
Thirteen years ago, much became clear about the extent of the abuse scandal in the church in Belgium, but the investigation into the many sexual crimes stalled and has still not been completed. Many priests and fathers have long since died and other matters have now expired. Yet abuse is again the talk of the day in Belgium.
Recognition
Every episode of Godforsaken attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers and further increases anger. All Flemish political parties are now in favor of setting up a parliamentary investigation committee. This should, among other things, provide clarity about: evidence that was once in the hands of the judicial authorities, but for reasons that are currently unclear, has been returned to the church.
“The truth must come to light,” Open VLD chairman Tom Ongena said earlier this week. He wants the victims to be recognized and that measures are taken to prevent recurrence. “We cannot and will not look away,” said CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi. Minister of Justice Van Quickenborne wants the church to remove clergy guilty of abuse from the payroll.
An unknown number of Flemish people also had themselves “debaptized”, as they say, after seeing the series. Although reversing the first sacrament is not possible according to the church, people can allow themselves to be removed from the baptismal register. The church now also has to answer to the privacy watchdog GBA, reports the VRTbecause it has become clear that the names and details of those who have been baptized will not be deleted.
‘Uncle Roger’
The target of much of the criticism is the once popular former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, who it came to light in 2010 that he abused his underage nephew, but about whom the Vatican has been silent for years. In the series, his nephew Mark tells movingly about the abuse from the age of five to eighteen by his ‘uncle Roger’, and says in a breaking voice that he was “just tired of the hypocrisy” of his uncle.
Since the documentary was broadcast, Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny, among others, has called on his colleague Vangheluwe to be released from his title of bishop and priest. The Pope should do that. Yesterday it was announced that the disgraced former bishop of Bruges had sent a letter to the Pope, although the contents of it are not yet known, reports the VRT.
The Antwerp bishop told VRT that he hopes the letter will have consequences. “We hope that he will ask for his resignation and that Rome will tackle the matter in the short term. We will send a letter to Rome from the bishops themselves next week.” According to Bonny, Vangheluwe, who currently lives in an abbey in France, has not seen the series, but he is aware of all the commotion. He is said to be “a broken man”.
Church and state
In the meantime, the discussion is also flaring up about the financing of the church, and in particular about the intertwining of church and state that is reflected in those flows of money. For example, the federal government is legally responsible for the wages and pensions of priests, and in practice the costs of maintaining buildings often fall to municipalities and cities.
The total amount that the church receives from the Belgian government is difficult to determine, but the vast majority of the budget for worldviews goes to the Catholic church. In the aftermath of the series, political parties are suggesting to cut subsidies for the church, which would require a constitutional amendment. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. Although the discussion is fierce in Flanders, the issue is much less prevalent in the French-speaking part of the country.
2023-09-30 11:57:18
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