Push Admin

Pope Francis blesses a toddler as he pays a traditional visit on December 8, 2022 to the statue dedicated to the Immaculate Conception near Piazza di Spagna in central Rome, celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Vatican Media handout, AFP/File 

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172742943356720221208-vatican-pope-mary-AFP.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Pope Francis blesses a toddler as he pays a traditional visit on December 8, 2022 to the statue dedicated to the Immaculate Conception near Piazza di Spagna in central Rome, celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Vatican Media handout, AFP/File  </div>Pope Francis said Friday that the Catholic Church must &quot;seek forgiveness&quot; over the &quot;scourge&quot; of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church&#x27;s dark past looms large.In a speech before political and civil society leaders that opened his three-day visit to the country, Francis denounced the &quot;tragic instances of child abuse&quot; as a stain on the Church&#x27;s legacy.&quot;It is our shame and our humiliation,&quot; Francis told the gathering at the Laeken Palace royal residency.&quot;The Church must be ashamed and must seek forgiveness,&quot; he said.The 87-year-old pontiff is due to meet with a group of clerical sexual assault victims in Brussels in the afternoon, as part of a three-day stay in the European nation tarred by decades of scandals and cover-ups.The meeting with around 15 victims, taking place at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT) at the Vatican&#x27;s diplomatic mission, was being held with the &quot;utmost discretion&quot;, according to the Belgian church.It was arranged after a hard-hitting documentary last year put Belgium&#x27;s abuse scandal back on the front pages, prompting many new victims to come forward.In an open letter published by Le Soir newspaper this month, some demanded the pope address paedophilia and set up a process for financial reparations.&quot;Words alone are not enough. Concrete measures must also be taken,&quot; Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a preamble to the pope&#x27;s speech.The pontiff said the abuse scandal was &quot;a scourge that the Church is addressing firmly and decisively by listening to and accompanying those who have been wounded, and by implementing a prevention program throughout the world&quot;.<div>FORCED ADOPTIONS</div>Francis has made combating sexual assault in the Church a main mission of his papacy, and insisted on a &quot;zero tolerance&quot; policy in the wake of wide-reaching abuse scandals around the world.During his speech, Francis also said he was &quot;saddened&quot; to learn about a forced adoptions scandal in Belgium that saw institutions run by nuns give up the babies of thousands of underage girls and unmarried women.&quot;We see how the bitter fruit of wrongdoing and criminality was mixed in with what was unfortunately the prevailing view in all parts of society at that time,&quot; he said.Belgium&#x27;s HLN news site estimates that up to 30,000 children were taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/27/taken-from-mother-by-nuns-victim-seeks-answers-as-pope-visits-belgium-1447">Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium</a></div>Bishops in Belgium apologized in 2023 and requested an independent investigation after fresh testimonies emerged from women and people claiming to have been &quot;sold&quot; by the Catholic Church to their adoptive family.Child sexual abuse and forced adoptions have &quot;badly damaged trust&quot; between the Church and society, De Croo said.In a sign of the work yet to be done, the program of an open-air mass concluding Francis&#x27;s trip on Sunday had to be changed at the last minute after it emerged that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse.The blunder prompted the head of the Belgian bishops&#x27; conference, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, to admit that the Church needed to get better at keeping a tab on cases and perpetrators.&quot;This represents a great challenge for us, but we must think about it seriously with the help of lawyers and psychologists,&quot; he told a local broadcaster. The composer, who died this month, reportedly settled a sexual abuse case in 2002.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/26/pope-francis-begins-trip-to-the-heart-of-europe-1008">Pope Francis begins trip to &#x27;the heart of Europe&#x27;</a></div><div>ON THE WANE</div>The Argentinian pope arrived in Belgium on Thursday evening after spending the day in neighboring Luxembourg, where he made a plea for international diplomacy amid flaring conflicts across the globe.He was welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, who hosted him on Friday morning, and he will head on to meet with academics at the Catholic university of Leuven in Dutch-speaking Flanders -- whose 600th anniversary next year is the official reason for Francis&#x27;s visit.On Saturday, during what is his 46th trip abroad, Francis will meet the clergy at the vast Basilica of the Sacred Heart before holding discussions with students at Louvain-la-Neuve in French-speaking Wallonia, notably on climate issues.The last papal visit to Brussels was in 1995, when John Paul II attended the beatification of Saint Damien, who dedicated his life to lepers.Nearly 65 percent of Belgium&#x27;s population is Christian, including 58 percent who are Catholic, according to figures from Louvain university.But their numbers are on the wane, reflecting a decline across Europe.During his weekly general audience, Francis said he hoped his visit could be &quot;the opportunity for a new impetus of faith&quot;.<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Pope Francis said Friday that the Catholic Church must "seek forgiveness" over the "scourge" of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church's dark past looms large.

Pope Francis said Friday that the Catholic Church must "seek forgiveness" over the "scourge" of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church's dark past looms large.

Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

World

Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 27, 2024 05:39 PM PHT

Read More:

ABSNews

ANC promo

Pope Francis

religion

Catholic

child abuse

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.