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	I Abused Children but Won't Step down Says Catholic Priest Sky Valley Chronicle April 17, 2011 http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BREAKING-NEWS/I-ABUSED-CHILDREN-BUT-WON-T-STEP-DOWN-br-Says-Catholic-priest-642299 (BRUSSELS) — In a statement that many people found incredulous against a backdrop of hundreds if not thousands of cases world wide of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, a former Belgian bishop – who now finds himself in the middle of one of the church's biggest pedophile scandals - said Thursday that he had abused two nephews in the past but had no plans to abandon the priesthood. In a TV interview – the first since the scandal made headlines a year ago – 74-year old Roger Vangheluwe, who did resign as Bishop when the sandal broke in Europe about a year ago, claimed he paid one nephew, that he had abused for years, tens of thousands of euros in support. But he denied the payments were designed to keep the nephew quiet about the abuse. Walter Van Steenbrugge, the lawyer for the nephew, denied Vangheluwe's claim that he paid his victim €25,000 ($36,000) several times over. And in perhaps one of the most astounding public statements made by a priest involved in a sex abuse scandal, Vangheluwe called 13 years of sexual abuse of one nephew – which began when the boy was 5 years old - as no more than "a little piece of intimacy," and referred to his abuse of a second nephew as something that was for a very short period of time, evidently equating the span of time the abuse took to a lesser degree of trauma sustained by the child. He went so far as to say, "I had the strong impression that my nephew didn't mind at all. To the contrary." Vangheluwe also complained in the hour-long VT4 interview that the church was targeted in abuse probes, and that other sectors like sports organizations were let off too easily. His comments have produced a public outcry in Europe. Justice Minister Stefaan De Clercq said in a statement the church authorities "had to take measures to stop the irresponsible behavior of the former bishop…it is a slap in the face of his victims and all victims," De Clercq said. Carina Van Cauter, of the parliamentary committee into sexual abuse, said Vangheluwe has tried to "turn his victims into culprits. He throws salt in their wounds." Vangheluwe was Belgium's longest-serving bishop when the scandal broke. The news coverage was forced him to admit he had abused his nephew, now in his early 40s, for years and even after becoming a bishop in 1984. Vangheluwe claims the abuse started out at crowded family gatherings when lodgings were so cramped he had to sometimes share a bed with a child. Earlier this week, the Vatican ordered Vangheluwe to no longer work as a priest while officials determine his punishment within the church.
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