Politics Abuse: Pope thanks Belgium for coming to terms with it
In Belgium, Pope Francis has expressed his gratitude for the way the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church have been dealt with in the country. "Abuse causes terrible suffering and wounds and also threatens the path of faith," he said on the third day of his trip to Belgium in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Koekelberg in Brussels, addressing socially committed people in the Church. "Thank you for the great work you do to transform anger and pain into help, closeness and compassion." A great deal of compassion is needed to avoid standing before the suffering of the victims with a heart of stone.
28.09.2024, 14:12
SDA
The previous day, Francis had described abuse in the Church as a disgrace. "The Church must be ashamed and ask for forgiveness and try to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again." Earlier, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had called for concrete steps to be taken by the Pontiff to come to terms with the abuse. His words were unusually harsh for a greeting.
On Friday evening, Francis met with 15 victims of clerical abuse in Belgium. The Pope thanked them for their courage and expressed shame for what they had suffered as children at the hands of the priests to whom they were entrusted, according to the Holy See. It was a "frank, difficult and also emotional conversation", a participant told the Belgian news agency Belga afterwards. The conversation had lasted more than two hours, whereas one hour had originally been planned.
