Disappointment, bitterness, misunderstanding: these are some of the feelings expressed by those who call themselves “The survivors”victims of the abuses committed by members of the Belgian Catholic Church. “In reality, were we waiting for something?” »»Questions, disillusioned, Jean-Marc Turine, one of those who met, Friday, July 11, two bishops, the Colombian Luis Manuel Ali Herrera and the Italian Stefano Simone Mattei, members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, created in 2014 by Pope Francis. On a trip to Belgium in September 2024, the predecessor of Léon XIV, had met fifteen of the two thousand victims identified in the kingdom and had promised them to follow up on their complaints.
At the end of their brief meeting with the two emissaries of Rome, the people concerned estimated that they were listened to but not heard. They also wondered if the report which will be submitted to the Pope will have the slightest effect, as the two Roman dignitaries would have indicated to them that the Belgian clergy cannot in any way be forced by the Vatican to act in their favor. The promise of a possible meeting with the Pope also seems unlikely, in the short term at least.
In September 2024, François had received, before his arrival in Brussels, a letter signed by several “survivors”. She invited him to open the archives of the Church, to set up real prevention tools and, above all, to recognize their sufferings. What did not do the primacy of Belgium, Godfried Danneels, when he was informed of a specific case in 1993. The deviant behavior of Roger Vangheluwe, the bishop of Bruges, multi -wrist aggressor of his two nephews, had been reported to him. Mgr Vangheluwe, however, resigned until 2010 in 2010 and was not dismissed from the clerical state in 2024. He was not convicted, the facts having been judged prescribed. A judicial inquiry started in 2010 never had any conclusion.
You have 56.08% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
