Belgiums Catholic Bishop of Bruges Quits over Abuse, Catholic Culture, April 23, 2010

Belgium's Catholic Bishop of Bruges Quits over Abuse

Catholic Culture
April 23, 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8639253.stm

Bishop Vangheluwe said he had asked for forgiveness

The bishop of the Belgian city of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, has resigned after admitting sexual abuse of a boy earlier in his career.

Bishop Vangheluwe, 73, said the abuse had happened when he was a simple priest and continued when he started as a bishop, a Vatican statement said.

The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had accepted the resignation.

The Catholic Church has come under severe pressure over child sexual abuse allegations emerging across the world.

"Before I was a bishop and for a certain time afterwards I sexually abused a young boy close to me," Bishop Vangheluwe said in a letter that was read out at a press conference in Brussels.

The letter said the victim was still mentally "scarred" by the abuse.

'Turning a page'

Belgium's Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard told the press conference in Brussels that the case would be "very saddening to the Belgian Catholic community".

"We are aware of the crisis of confidence that this will engender for a number of people," he said.

But he said the resignation showed that the Beligan Catholic Church wanted to "resolutely turn a page on a very painful" topic.

Bishop Vangheluwe's decision to quit is the latest in a series of resignations to be offered or accepted by Catholic bishops.

It was announced on Thursday that the German Bishop of Augsburg, who had been accused of beating children at a Catholic children's home in the 1970s and 1980s, had tendered his resignation.

Bishop Walter Mixa, who has not been accused of sexual abuse, has also been under pressure over allegations of financial irregularities at a children's school under his responsibility.

This week the Pope also accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare in Ireland.

The Pope said on Wednesday the Church was taking "action" over abuse against children by priests, in his most direct remarks to date on the recent allegations.

Meanwhile in Germany, where recent allegations have caused widespread anger, Church figures were expected to participate in a round-table discussion about widespread abuse in schools.