BRUSSELS (BELGIUM)
Brussels Times [Brussels, Belgium]
July 22, 2024
By Ciara Carolan
Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with sexual abuse victims of the Catholic Church during his visit to Belgium in September, but no victims interviewed in the explosive Godvergeten documentary received an invite to the official session.
In an agenda published by the Vatican on Friday, the Pope will attend a “pastoral meeting with victims of sexual abuse” during his Belgian trip from 26 to 29 September. However, none of the victims who testified in VRT’s Godvergeten (‘Godforsaken’ in English) were invited, according to De Morgen. The documentary brought deep-rooted abuse at the heart of the Catholic order to light and prompted calls for the upcoming encounter between abuse victims and the Pope.
Nevertheless, “none of our people were invited,” said priest Rik Devillé, founder of the Working Group on Human Rights in the Church (WMK). “We wrote to the bishops and made concrete proposals and there was zero response.”
WMK has advocated for a 34-minute long meeting representing one second for each of the 1,873 known victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.
‘Church-friendly’ victims
A preliminary meeting attended by Devillé on 15 June featured what he referred to as ten “Church-friendly” victims who have forgiven the religious institution for what happened to them. In his view, only including these individuals will not result in truly constructive reconciliation. “The church carefully screened all victims,” he said.
Previously, WMK denounced a survey circulated to victims via the non-profit Dignity, which the group criticises as another screening tactic. The survey asked respondents whether they had reported their abuse, how they had done it and to whom. In response to the backlash, a spokesperson for the Belgian Bishops’ Conference said there was “no question of excluding certain people.”
The papal visit is taking place to commemorate the 600th anniversary of universities KU Leuven and UCLouvain. The Pope will visit both institutions as well as the Basilica of Koekelberg and the Roi Baudouin stadium. The meeting with sexual abuse victims will take place “in discretion” and no further details will be released in the run-up to the event.