Pope Francis addressed clerical sexual abuse in Belgium on Friday during a meeting with Belgian civil leaders in Brussels, expressing deep remorse and calling for action. The pontiff stated that the Catholic Church was “ashamed” by these abuses, describing them as a “scourge.” Francis emphasized that the Church must confront this issue with Christian humility and make every effort to prevent future occurrences.
During his speech at Laeken Castle on Friday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo firmly addressed the Catholic Church’s record on sexual abuse. De Croo urged the institution to take concrete measures to confront its past, emphasizing that statements alone are insufficient. He stressed the need to prioritize victims, ensuring their voices are heard and their experiences acknowledged. The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of transparency, rejecting any attempts at cover-ups.
The Pope’s comments and De Croo’s calls come against the backdrop of Belgium’s ongoing reckoning with clerical abuse. In 2010, a Church-commissioned investigation uncovered hundreds of abuse cases in Belgium dating back to the 1950s.
The Belgian case is part of a global pattern of abuse within the Catholic Church that has been uncovered in numerous countries. In Australia, a five-year inquiry concluded in 2017 that tens of thousands of children were sexually abused in various institutions over decades, including churches, schools, and sports clubs. In the US, a 2004 Church-commissioned report revealed that more than 4,000 Roman Catholic priests faced sexual abuse allegations in the previous 50 years, involving over 10,000 children. Similar investigations and reports have emerged from Ireland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and many other countries, highlighting the pervasive nature of this crisis within the global Catholic Church.
In 2021, an inquiry in France found that approximately 216,000 children had been sexually abused by clergy members since 1950, further underscoring the widespread nature of the problem.
In response to the global crisis, Pope Francis has implemented several reforms. In 2021, he introduced significant changes to Canon Law, explicitly criminalizing various forms of abuse and cover-ups within the Church. These amendments represent the most comprehensive revision of the Church’s internal legal system in decades. The Pope has also held an unprecedented summit on pedophilia in the Church and lifted the rule of “pontifical secrecy” to improve transparency in sexual abuse cases.
However, critics argue that these efforts fall short of addressing the full scope of the problem. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-founder of BishopAccountability, has raised concerns about the Pope’s approach to handling abuse cases. She has pointed to instances since 2019 where, in her view, the Pope appeared to favor accused clergy over their alleged victims. Among the cases is priest and artist Marko Rupnik, who faced excommunication in 2020 due to accusations of sexually and psychologically abusing nuns over the past three decades. Nevertheless, he was admitted to a diocese in Slovenia, his homeland, in 2023.
