BRUSSELS (BELGIUM)
Church Times [London, England]
October 4, 2024
By Jonathan Luxmoore
Pope Francis also scolded over status of women in Roman Catholic Church
THE Pope has pledged to raise the status of women and prevent the cover-up of sexual abuse in his Church, after facing criticism during a visit to Belgium last week.
“Womanhood speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication — for this reason, a woman is more important than a man,” Pope Francis told listeners at the French-speaking Catholic University of Louvain.
“Let us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love, from friendship to the workplace, from studies to the exercise of responsibility in Church and society. . . Let us not forget: the Church is female, not male.”
The Pope spoke after listening to a 2000-word letter from students, praising his work for justice and integral development, but criticising the Roman Catholic Church’s all-male priesthood and “theology of women”.
He said that the “role of women in the Church” was linked to “questions of violence and injustice, as well as ideological prejudices”, but should also reflect a “common and shared dignity” rather than rivalry with men.
The Pope also came under attack over the Church’s response to abuse at a meeting with state and government leaders at Laeken Castle, in Brussels, during which the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, called on the Church to end “any form of cover-up”.
Preaching on Sunday in the capital’s King Baudouin Stadium, Pope Francis also urged bishops to “hold abusers to account”, regardless of their status. “The cries of the afflicted cannot be ignored or simply erased as if they were some discordant note in a perfect concert in a perfect world,” he said. “We cannot stifle their cries through superficial attempts of social assistance; they are the living voice of the Spirit because they remind us that we are all poor sinners — I the first among them.”
The Pope arrived in Brussels after an eight-hour stopover in Luxembourg, and met abuse survivors, as well as groups helping migrants and refugees.
While deploring the plight of exploited workers and other victims of injustice, he said that he was “saddened” to hear that single mothers in church-run institutions had been forced in the past to surrender their newborn babies for adoption.
In a video prayer-message on Monday, the Pope said that priests should remember that they were not “bosses of the laity, but their pastors”, and that every Christian had a vital responsibility to help to “advance the Church’s mission through collaboration”.