KANSAS CITY (KC)
Catholic News Service via National Catholic Reporter
March 14, 2019
By Junno Arocho Esteves
Vatican City – Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, retired archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, died March 14 at the age of 85.
Pope Francis expressed his condolences to Danneels’ family and the Belgian faithful and praised the late prelate’s zeal for the church, especially during the Synod of Bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015.
“This zealous pastor has served the church with dedication not only in his diocese but also at the national level as president of the Belgian bishops’ conference, as well as serving as a member of various Roman dicasteries,” the pope said in March 14 telegram to Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, the current archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels.
“I ask Christ, conqueror of evil and death, to welcome him into his peace and joy,” the pope said. Born June 4, 1933, in Kanegem, Belgium, Danneels was the oldest of six children. He was ordained a priest in 1957 and two years later became chairman of the department of theology and spiritual director at the seminary in Bruges. In 1969, he became professor of theology at Louvain University.
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Despite being respected within and outside the church, Danneels faced criticism in 2010 after meeting a victim of clergy sex abuse by a local bishop.
Belgium’s Flemish-language De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad dailies published an alleged transcript of the then-retired cardinal’s April 2010 meeting with relatives of the nephew of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges. The unnamed nephew was abused by his uncle before and after the bishop’s 1985 consecration.
Vangheluwe resigned in the same month after admitting abusing his nephew for 13 years.
According to the text, Danneels drew a distinction between “public and private punishment” of the bishop and suggested “forgiveness and forgiving” to the unnamed victim, who said he would leave the decision about going public to the cardinal.
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