“Black day for the church in belgium”

adminonDecember 16, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Belgian Bishop Roger Vangheluwe has resigned over sexual abuse of a teenager. Pope Benedict XVI. Accepted the resignation of the bishop of Bruges, as announced in Rome and Brussels on Friday.

When cases of sexual abuse by priests in other European countries came to public attention in the past weeks and months, the Belgian church still remained relatively calm. The old cases from past decades probably all came to light in the late 1990s, said Hans Geybels, former spokesman for recently retired Cardinal Godfried Danneels. At that time, in the wake of the scandal surrounding the murderer and child molester Marc Dutroux, misconduct and crimes in church circles were also brought to light. And there can't really be any more recent cases, because since then all suspected cases are reported directly to the public prosecutor's office, Geybels said. Hope is not enough. Now the wave has hit the Belgian church after all – and at the highest level. With Roger Vangheluwe (73), Bishop of Bruges, the longest-serving member of the Belgian Bishops' Conference resigned on Friday. Vangheluwe confessed to sexual abuse of a teenager – over a period of years, both as a priest and as a bishop. Several times since then, they have apologized to the victim as well as to their family. This, meanwhile, has not calmed the situation, Vangheluwe said in a statement. He had been bishop of Bruges since 1984. The victim is apparently still not well. The man was still deeply traumatized as an adult, several church officials said at a press conference. He had been abused "for years, at several developmental stages of his life". The recent abuse scandals would have reopened the wounds. Members of the family therefore wrote to all Belgian bishops on Tuesday to. And they responded. The prere caused the resignation of the Bishop of Bruges, which Pope Benedict XVI. also accepted immediately. Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard of Mechelen-Brussels left no doubt Friday that the Belgian bishops would have asked the Vatican for impeachment proceedings against Vangheluwe if the bishop had not offered his resignation. Early on, the Belgian bishops had called for complete transparency in the investigation of abuse allegations. The testy climate in the country, heated up after the revelation of serious judicial failures in the Dutroux case, led, for example, to the establishment of a telephone hotline as early as 1998 and a commission for abuse victims in 2000. Belgian bishops expressed "deep concern" about cases of child abuse by priests even then. They said they wanted to do everything they could to help solve the crimes.

"There are no dodges when it comes to abuse" At the time, Belgium's highest-ranking churchman, then-Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels Cardinal Godfried Danneels, was also on trial in connection with abuse cases. He was charged with violating his supervisory duties over a clergyman in his diocese, who was sentenced to six years in prison for dozens of counts of child abuse. In the first instance, Danneels was sentenced to the equivalent of 12.500 euro fine imposed. On appeal, the judges acquitted the cardinal, saying there was no relationship of dependence between a bishop and a priest that could justify a conviction. Danneels' successor, Leonard, had already denounced at Easter a "culpable silence" on abuse by the church that had lasted for decades. Now he followed up. "There are no dodges when it comes to abuse," said the archbishop, who broke down in tears during the press conference. "We are aware of the crisis of confidence."He said he hoped that this clarity would help restore the victim's dignity and contribute to his recovery. The aim is to put an end to a period of time not so long ago "when silence and cover-up were preferred as a solution in the church and elsewhere".

A typical topic for agitation are statements by church representatives on asylum and refugee policy or homosexuality. Then they receive hate mail, whose senders increasingly appear with clear names.

Not only politicians and administrative staff, but also church representatives are increasingly having to deal with hostility. The Protestant churches in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse are registering a growing number of offensive e-mails, but have so far refrained from pressing charges against the authors.

"The tone has become rougher here, too," said Stephan Krebs, head of the public relations department of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau. Often there is also a larger number of identical mails, which indicates the use of social bots, he says.

Upsetting: statements on asylum and refugee policy

According to the Darmstadt senior church councilor, typical uproar topics include statements by leading church representatives on asylum and refugee policy or homosexuality. However, he said, inappropriate reactions are relatively common at Christmas or confirmation ceremonies, when there are not enough seats in the churches for all the worshipers.

In the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, church representatives became the focus of anti-refugee agitation following the murder of a schoolgirl in Kandel. Verbal attacks on the church president have been accompanied by threats, said press spokesman Wolfgang Schumacher. "One or two of them we have forwarded to our lawyers."

Verbal armament

Those responsible in the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland are observing that insulting letters are increasingly also being sent under clear names and are complaining of a "verbal armament". The Rhenish church has not yet pursued legal action against the letters. So far, the leadership of the Church of Kurhessen, where the dialogue with Muslims has also recently given rise to increased hostility, has also refrained from making announcements.

The public prosecutor's office in Essen has filed charges against a 66-year-old Catholic priest for sexual abuse of a child. As the authorities announced on Thursday, the pastor of St. St. Francis parishioners from Bottrop committed at least 15 acts in 1994 and 1995 against a boy born in 1982. The accused denies the crime. Since the judicial authorities believe there is a risk of repetition, the man has been in pre-trial detention since late May. Volker van Haren met the Essen bishop Dr. Genn on the interview on the topic.

The bishop of Essen Dr. Felix Genn announces in interview that he "doesn't want to bury anything in the basement". The causes must be clarified and it is a pastoral duty to help both the victim and the possible perpetrator.The leave of absence of the priest should "not be understood as a prejudgement", Genn had already informed the Bottrop community yesterday in a letter, which had been read there yesterday in a mass. Act many years ago? According to the information, the family of the boy from the Bergisches Land had maintained a friendly relationship with the priest of the Essen diocese since 1991. During the summer vacations, the boy is said to have spent a few days in the rectory. In the process, the boy had also spent the night in the clergyman's apartment several times.According to the public prosecutor's office, the crime was not reported by the family until October 2007. During a search of the pastor's apartment, numerous films and files with pornographic content were seized, he said.According to the Essen diocese, the accused was immediately suspended by Ruhr Bishop Felix Genn. "As soon as we become aware of such a suspicion, the bishop will immediately suspend the priest or employee. This is what happened in this case immediately after it became known." emphasizes Ulrich Lota, spokesman for the diocese of Essen in the this site interview. Proceedings under canon law would also be initiated against the priest. There is, as in all German dioceses, a procedural order, according to which is now proceeding.

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