Pope Francis acknowledged on Friday that the Catholic Church must apologise for the widespread issue of child sexual abuse during his visit to Belgium, a country with a troubled history related to the Church.
Addressing political and civil society leaders at the Laeken Palace royal residency to begin his three-day visit, Francis condemned the “tragic instances of child abuse” as a dark mark on the Church’s reputation.
“It is our shame and our humiliation. The Church must be ashamed and must seek forgiveness.” He said.
The 87-year-old pontiff is scheduled to meet with a group of clerical sexual assault victims in Brussels later in the day as part of his visit to the nation that has been marred by decades of scandals and cover-ups.
The pontiff affirmed that the Church is firmly and decisively addressing the abuse scandal by listening to and supporting those who have been harmed, as well as implementing a prevention program worldwide.
Throughout his papacy, Francis has prioritised combating sexual assault in the Church and has insisted on a “zero tolerance” policy following widespread abuse scandals globally.
During his speech, the pope also expressed his sorrow upon learning about a forced adoption scandal in Belgium, where institutions run by nuns gave up the babies of thousands of underage girls and unmarried women.
Francis acknowledged the bitter consequences of wrongdoing and criminality prevalent in society at that time, as he commented on the forced adoptions scandal, which saw up to 30,000 children taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.
In 2023, Bishops in Belgium apologised and called for an independent investigation after new testimonies emerged from women and individuals claiming to have been “sold” by the Catholic Church to their adoptive families.
Belgian Prime Minister De Croo noted that child sexual abuse and forced adoptions have severely affected the trust between the Church and society.
As a sign of the ongoing work that needs to be done, the program of an open-air mass concluding Francis’s trip on Sunday had to be altered at the last minute after it was discovered that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse.
Acknowledging the need for improvement in monitoring cases and perpetrators, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, the head of the Belgian Bishops Conference, admitted that the Church needs to do better.
The Argentinian pope arrived in Belgium Thursday evening after spending the day in neighbouring Luxembourg, where he pleaded for international diplomacy amid escalating worldwide conflicts.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde welcomed him on Friday morning. He will then meet with academics at the Catholic University of Leuven in Dutch-speaking Flanders, which will celebrate its 600th anniversary next year, the official reason for Francis’s visit.
The last papal visit to Brussels occurred in 1995 when John Paul II attended the beatification of Saint Damien, who devoted his life to lepers.