In Belgium, sexual abuse accelerates the secularization of the country

On the Pope’s agenda is a meeting with victims of child molestation priests. The Church of Belgium has been, in Europe, one of the most affected by sexual abuse scandals. And these have accelerated the already very advanced secularization of society. In 1997, a first trial for touching and raping minors concerned a Brussels priest. In 2010, there was a thunderclap: the Bishop of Bruges, Mgr Roger Vangheluwe, admitted to being the author of repeated rapes against his nephew, aged 5 when the events began. He immediately resigns. But we must wait until March 11, 2024 for it to be returned to a secular state.

The documentary series Godvergeten. The forgotten by God, broadcast on the Dutch-speaking channel NRT in September 2023, caused a shock wave among Catholics. By highlighting in particular the role of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, former primate of Belgium, in the concealment of child crime within the clergy. “Long powerful in Flanders through education and associations, the Church is today experiencing a more marked decline in this region than in Wallonia,” notes Rik Torfs, former rector of the University of Louvain and columnist for La Libre Belgique. Investigative work was carried out by two commissions (inter-diocesan in 2010, then parliamentary in 2010-2011), both subject to opposing pressures, in a tense climate. Far from the independence of Ciase in France.