The L'Anglophone
April 20, 2011
http://www.langlophone.com/fullbn.php?id=741
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| Vangheluwe in choir dress, 2007. Even if defrocked, his Belgian government pension of 2,800ˆ per month is secure. |
BRUSSELS — The prosecutor's office here has confirmed reports that it is looking into new charges of sexual abuse by Roger Vangheluwe, the former Bishop of Bruges. The new allegations, reported in the weekly Humo, concern altar boys at a children's choir camp in the 1960s. The complaint was brought by a 59-year-old who attended the camp but was not himself a victim.
After first making headlines in 2010, when he admitted to abusing a nephew, press attention has refocused on Mr. Vangheluwe since, in two television interviews last week, the still-frocked cleric admitted to molesting a second nephew yet denied he was a paedophile.
On Sunday, in the wake of widespread demand that he be punished by The Vatican – the 20-year statute of limitations leaves Belgian prosecutors powerless to threaten prison – Mr. Vangheluwe disappeared from the French monastery at which he had been staying.
A September report by the Adriaenssens investigation revealed over 300 cases of sexual abuse by clergy members of Belgium's Catholic church. 200 of the victims were boys, and cases were found in almost every diocese.
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