Catholic Church must learn from abuse victims, Pope Francis says
BRUSSELS – Pope Francis addressed the Belgian victims of clerical sexual abuse again on Saturday, offering words of contrition in a speech at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg.
“Abuse generates atrocious suffering and wounds, undermining even the path of faith,” the pope told the congregation gathered in the church.
“One of the roots of violence stems from the abuse of power when we use the positions we have to crush or manipulate others,” he added, vowing that the Catholic Church would learn from the victims.
The pontiff was speaking after a bruising welcome to Belgium from Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and King Philippe on Friday over sexual abuse within the church.
The Belgian king told the pope that “it has taken far too long to begin looking for ways to repair the irreparable.”
The Belgian prime minister meanwhile told the head of the Catholic Church that words are not enough and that “concrete steps must also be taken.”
“The victims must be heard. They should be at the center. They have a right to the truth,” De Croo said in his speech to welcome the pope.
The pope met in private with a group of 15 victims of clerical sexual abuse on Friday in Brussels along with two translators and two psychologists.
The meeting lasted two hours and was an “open, difficult and also emotional conversation,” a participant told the Belgian news agency Belga afterwards.
The pope later visited the Catholic University in Louvain-La-Neuve to celebrate the 600th anniversary of its foundation.
However, in a conversation onstage with the university’s students and professors about the role of women in society and the Church, a major disagreement emerged.
The university students and staff pressed the pope and the Church to recognize that the position of women has advanced beyond the role of a carer.
The pope in response to the university described the role of a woman as that of a “fruitful, welcome, nurturing and life-giving dedication.”
A press release circulated by the university after the conversation noted with “incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women.”
The university added in the statement that the pope’s position was “deterministic and reductive.”
The university’s rector, Dr Francoise Smets, later told dpa that the Church’s position was “very much conservative” but that the university appreciated the opportunity to speak with the pope.