Beloved Disciple Parish

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

As Election Day nears and early voting begins, several Catholic bishops are issuing urgent requests to voters, calling on them to oppose sweeping abortion amendments on the ballot in their states. If passed, these measures would make it extremely difficult or impossible to enact pro-life laws. 

In Colorado, where abortion is already legal through all nine months of pregnancy, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila is optimistic that Amendment 79 can be defeated, saying: “We have a path to victory” through prayer and action.

The Colorado amendment would modify the state constitution to explicitly ban any restrictions or impediments on the “right to abortion” or health insurance coverage for abortion.

To Aquila, as well as many other bishops, it’s a matter of getting the word out about just how far these amendments go. In an open letter published on Sept. 27, Aquila pointed out that recent polling suggested that if more Coloradans knew how much the amendment would expand abortion, support would fall to 47%, well below the 55% threshold needed for the measure to pass.

“Coloradans need to know that Amendment 79 creates a constitutional right to abortion and bans any limits on late abortion,” he said. “Even restrictions on abortions in the ninth month for healthy mothers and healthy babies would be illegal.”

Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop James Johnston, meanwhile, expressed trepidation over the possibility of the Missouri amendment passing. In a statement released Sept. 20, Johnston noted that “the present odds appear to favor the culture of death.”

A poll published by St. Louis University and YouGov at the end of August showed that 52% of Missourians supported the abortion amendment, 34% opposed it, and 14% were unsure.

Johnston said that “the magnitude and gravity of the current moment requires a fervent spiritual response.” He expressed hope that all Catholics will “respond to this gathering storm with prayer and action.”

In addition to voting against the amendment and spreading the word about the “extreme” danger it presents to life, Johnston said he wants Catholics to increase their prayer, fasting, and action.

“I hope we can all respond to this gathering storm with prayer and action, aided by the help of Our Lady and the grace of Our Lord,” he said. “As Catholics, we must renew and add to the ways we support women and families experiencing an unexpected pregnancy or difficult diagnosis and their preborn babies through supportive care and love. This is the best response to what Pope Francis has called the ‘throwaway culture.’”

In Florida, where amendments require a 60% threshold to pass and several experts believe the pro-life movement has its best chance of success, the Catholic Church has been at the forefront of efforts to defeat the abortion amendment.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops was one of the first groups to oppose the state’s abortion amendment, saying that it was “misleading” and “dangerous.” The Florida bishops have helped organize efforts to defeat the amendment. Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski told CNA in August that the bishops had collectively raised several millions of dollars to spread awareness about the amendment’s dangers and to get out the vote against it.

In a column published in May, Wenski said that “unborn children matter — and so do their mothers.”

“In urging a no vote on Amendment 4, we wish to protect not only the unborn child — the weakest, most innocent and defenseless among us — but we also seek to protect countless women from the harms of abortion,” he said. “This is not to ‘impose our views’ but to ‘make our proposal’ about what is necessary for human flourishing in society. By insisting that every human being matters, we bring to public policy debates on issues of human dignity, justice, and peace an understanding of the human person that, while founded on the Christian Scriptures, is also accessible to human reason.”

As the November elections draw closer, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has also spoken out against the amendments. In a statement marking the start of October as Respect Life Month,” Arlington, Virginia, Bishop Michael Burbidge, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged all Catholics to stand against the “gravely evil ballot initiatives that would enshrine abortion in their state constitutions.”

“What we now see is that 50 years of virtually unlimited abortion has tragically created a national mindset where many Americans have become comfortable with some amount of abortion. This allows the abortion industry to continue to provide any amount of abortion,” Burbidge said.

Like the other bishops, Burbidge said: “We need a revival of prayer and action.”

Burbidge urged all Catholics to join in praying the “Prayer for Life to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”

These bishops, who have spoken out recently, are joined by their brother bishops representing all 10 states where abortion is on the ballot have weighed in and who have urged voters to oppose these measures.

The makeup of the U.S. Senate could change as a result of the 2024 elections. / Credit: rarrarorro, Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2024 / 13:53 pm (CNA).

Will the Democrats maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. Senate? The answer could depend on what happens in Montana, Ohio, Texas, and Florida. 

There are 34 seats up in November — 23 are held by Democrats and 11 by Republicans. Currently, the Democrats have 51 seats to the Republicans’ 49 — with the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia is expected to move to the Republican column in the solidly red state. 

For the Democrats to hold on to their majority, all of their incumbents need to be reelected and they need to either flip a Republican seat or win the presidency. In the event of a 50-50 split, the vice president represents the tiebreaking vote.

Fewer than six weeks until Election Day, here are four races that could determine which party controls the Senate. 

Montana: likely Republican pickup

Three-term Sen. Jon Tester is the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent, making Montana the best chance for Republicans to pick up a seat. Born and raised in Montana, Tester has leveraged his image as a third-generation Montanan farmer against his opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, originally from Minnesota. 

However, Sheehy is polling seven points ahead of Tester in his home state despite being tagged as a carpetbagger. In recent years, Montana has welcomed more transplants from other states, according to national census data, which found that 51,600 more people relocated to Montana than any other state in the past four years. 

Montana is also notably one of 10 states where an abortion referendum will appear on the ballot. Tester has repeatedly gone after Sheehy for his stated pro-life views, attempting to bolster his campaign by portraying Sheehy as a “no exceptions” pro-lifer (Sheehy has stated on multiple occasions that he believes in exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother). 

Regardless, Tester’s strategy may come to nothing, as the state has a history of splitting its vote. In 2022, Montanans rejected the pro-life Born Alive Infant Protection Act ballot initiative but elected a pro-life candidate, Rep. Ryan Zinke, to its one congressional seat.

Lastly, former president Donald Trump, who won almost 60% of the vote in Montana in 2020, has a double-digit lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to polls, and may also help flip the seat.

Ohio: vulnerable Democrat

All eyes are on Ohio, a key swing state where Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is polling ahead of Republican businessman Bernie Moreno by four points. However, polling for the presidential race shows Trump ahead, making Ohio a possible pickup for Republicans.

According to an Aug. 9 AdImpact report, the race is the first non-presidential race to surpass $300 million in spending on campaign advertising.

In Ohio, as in Montana, the Democratic incumbent is campaigning on the issue of abortion. 

Brown has repeatedly attacked Moreno for his pro-life views, often portraying him as an extremist who would support a national abortion ban based on comments the GOP candidate made in 2022 in which he described himself as “absolutely pro-life, no exceptions.” 

However, Moreno has since appeared to scale back his pro-life stance, expressing support for “commonsense restrictions” after 15 weeks and returning the issue to the states. Moreno has also slammed his opponent and the Democratic Party for seeming to treat its female voter base as though abortion is the only issue they care about. 

Texas and Florida: increasingly vulnerable Republicans

With the races in Montana and Ohio tightening, Democrats have begun rolling out extensive, multimillion-dollar ad campaigns in Texas and Florida — two deeply red states where Republican incumbents are engaged in surprisingly competitive races.  

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced the multimillion-dollar ad buy on Thursday, floating the possibility of additional funding rollouts for television ads in both states as the election cycle continues. 

In Texas, incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is polling only one point ahead of his Democrat challenger, Texas Rep. Colin Allred, whose campaign manager welcomed news of the Democrats’ recent ad spending gamble, describing Cruz as “weaker and more vulnerable than ever” due to the border crisis, his pro-life views on abortion, and concerns among voters about Social Security and Medicare. 

In Florida, the race is also tight between Republican Sen. Rick Scott and his Democrat opponent, former state Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. A recent poll shows Scott ahead of his opponent by only three points. 

Scott is wrapping up his first Senate term, which he won in 2018 by an even smaller margin of just 0.2 percentage points. 

Floridians in November will also vote on Amendment 4, a measure that would prohibit the state from restricting abortion access up to fetal viability, or around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Scott is pro-life and has publicly said he will be voting against the amendment — a move that could leave him vulnerable as polling predicts the measure’s success. 

Saint Jerome Writing, a painting by Caravaggio, dated to 1605–06. Public domain. / null

CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Most people know that St. Jerome — whose feast day the Catholic Church celebrates on Sept. 30 — is famous for translating the entire Bible into Latin in the fourth century A.D., creating a widely read edition later known as the Vulgate. 

But fewer people probably realize how groundbreaking — and how enduring — Jerome’s work truly is. The Vulgate became the predominantly used Bible of the Middle Ages and has endured to this day as a translation that at least one prominent linguist considers one of the very best available. 

“I don’t know any other translation, either ancient or modern, so good as the Vulgate,” Christophe Rico, a Catholic linguist living and working in Jerusalem, told CNA.

Rico, a Frenchman, is a professor of ancient Greek and dean at the Polis Institute in Jerusalem, which teaches a variety of ancient languages. Working with the Polis Institute, Rico produces books to help students learn to speak and read Latin and Greek — with the goal, in part, of allowing those who wish to read the original Latin Vulgate to do so. 

An expert teacher in Greek and Latin, Rico said that despite the more than 1,600 years that have elapsed since its completion, Jerome’s translation of the Bible — while not perfect, as no translation is — has proven to be amazingly accurate and very valuable for the Church. 

“If you have a doubt about the soundness of a modern translation, go to the Vulgate; especially for the New Testament,” he advised, adding that the Old Testament translation in the Vulgate also is “excellent.”

Who was Jerome?

St. Jerome was born around 340 as Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius in present-day Croatia. His father sent him to Rome for instruction in rhetoric and classical literature. 

Baptized in 360 by Pope Liberius, he traveled widely and eventually settled on the life of a desert hermit in Syria. He later was ordained a priest and relocated, living a solitary and ascetic life in Bethlehem from the mid-380s. It was there that he learned Hebrew, mainly from studying with Jewish rabbis. He eventually became St. Damasus I’s personal secretary. 

Amusingly, linguistic genius and an admirable work ethic aren’t the only qualities Jerome is known for today. He’s also the patron saint of people with difficult personalities — as he was said to have one himself, displaying a harsh temperament and biting criticisms of his intellectual opponents.

The birth of the Vulgate

Contrary to popular belief, the Vulgate wasn’t the first time there had been a Latin Bible — at the time of Jerome, in the fourth century, there was a version already widely in use called the “Vetus Latina” (“Old Latin”), which was itself a roughly second-century A.D. translation of the Greek Septuagint. In addition, the Vetus Latina contained the translation from the Greek original of all the books of the New Testament. All the books of the New Testament were written in Greek originally, but the Old Testament — save for a handful of books — was first written in Hebrew. 

Rico described the Vetus Latina as a “good translation, but not perfect.” In 382, St. Damasus I tasked Jerome, who was working as his secretary at the time, with revising the Vetus Latina translation of the New Testament. 

Jerome did so, taking several years to painstakingly revise and improve the Latin translation of the New Testament from the best Greek manuscripts available. Rico said throughout the process, Jerome corrected certain passages and expounded on the deep meanings of many of the Greek words that had been lost in earlier translations.

For example, the Greek word “epiousios,” which was likely coined by the Gospel writers, appears in the Lord’s Prayer in Luke and Matthew and is often translated in English as “daily.” In the Gospel of Matthew, however, Jerome translated the word into Latin as “supersubstantialem,” or “supersubstantial” — an allusion, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out, to the body of Christ in the Eucharist. 

All of Jerome’s work resulted in a “brilliant improvement” over the Vetus Latina, Rico said. 

What Jerome did next was even more ambitious. He set about translating the entire Old Testament as well, from its original Hebrew. Jerome knew Hebrew very well, Rico noted, since he had lived in the Holy Land for 30 years at that point and kept in close contact with Jewish rabbis. Jerome also had access to the Hexapla of Origen, a kind of “Rosetta Stone” for the Bible that displayed the Bible text in six versions side by side. (The Hebrew text, a transliteration in Greek letters of the Hebrew text, the Greek Septuagint translation, and three other Greek translations that had been made in a Jewish milieu.)

In an effort that would ultimately take 15 years, Jerome succeeded in translating the entire Old Testament from the original Hebrew, which was no mean feat given the fact that Hebrew was originally written without the use of short vowels. 

Upon its completion, the Vulgate not only superseded the Vetus Latina in becoming the predominant Bible translation used in the Middle Ages, but it was also declared the official Bible of the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent (1545–1563). 

The Vulgate has been revised a handful of times over the years, most notably in 1592 by Pope Clementine VIII (the “Clementine Vulgate”), and the most recent revision, the Nova Vulgata, promulgated by St. John Paul II in 1979.

In addition to its use today in the Traditional Latin Mass, the Vulgate has endured as the basis for a popular English translation of the Bible, the Douay–Rheims. 

While again cautioning that no translation is ever perfect, Rico was quick to praise Jerome’s Vulgate for its accuracy and its importance in the history of the Church. 

“For the New Testament, I have not been able to find any mistakes ... The whole thing is incredible,” he said. 

For his part, Jerome is today recognized as a doctor of the Church. He lived out his last days in study, prayer, and asceticism at the monastery he founded in Bethlehem, where he died in 420. 

This story was first published on Sept. 30, 2022, and has been updated.

Pope Francis speaks aboard the papal plane on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Aboard the papal plane, Sep 29, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Aboard the papal plane to Rome on Sunday, Pope Francis responded to criticism of remarks he made about women during a Sept. 28 visit to a Catholic university in Louvain, Belgium, saying it is an “obtuse mind” that intentionally misunderstands his position.

In a meeting with students of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Francis reflected at length on the role of women in the Church, saying: “What characterizes women, that which is truly feminine, is not stipulated by consensus or ideologies, just as dignity itself is ensured not by laws written on paper, but by an original law written on our hearts.”

“Womanhood speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing and life-giving dedication. For this reason, a woman is more important than a man, but it is terrible when a woman wants to be a man: No, she is a woman, and this is ‘heavy’ and important,” he said. 

“Let us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love,” the pontiff continued, “from friendship to the workplace, from studies to the exercise of responsibility in the Church and society, from marriage to motherhood, or from virginity to the service of others and the building up of the kingdom of God.”

In a press release issued just moments after the pope’s speech, UCLouvain criticized Francis’ remarks on women as “conservative” and “deterministic and reductive.”

The university said it “expresses its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women in the Church and in society.”

The university took particular issue with the pontiff’s comment that “woman is a fertile welcome, care, vital devotion,” which the Vatican’s official English version of the speech translated as “fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication.”

“UCLouvain is an inclusive university and committed to the fight against sexist and sexual violence,” the release stated. “It reaffirms its desire for everyone to flourish within it and in society, whatever their origins, gender, or sexual orientation. It calls on the Church to follow the same path, without any form of discrimination.”

During the in-flight press conference returning from Belgium, Italian journalist Annachiara Valle of the magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked for the pope’s response to the university’s criticisms.

Pope Francis called the press release “premade” and “not moral” for having been written “in the moment in which I spoke.”

“I always talk about the dignity of women,” he said. “I said something that I cannot say about men: The Church is woman, she is the bride of Jesus. To masculinize women is not human. Women, I always say, are more important than men, because the Church is the bride of Jesus.”

He said if this seems “conservative” to some people, it is because they do not understand, or “there is an obtuse mind that does not want to hear about this.”

Reiterating his many past statements on the Marian and Petrine theological principles defining the different roles of men and women in the Church, Francis also praised “the mysticism of woman [as] greater than” ordained ministries such as priests or deacons.

Abuse

In the press conference, journalist Andrea Vreede of the Dutch NOS TV asked Pope Francis about abuse and how the Vatican might better respond to the needs and requests of victims. 

Pope Francis pointed out that an institution already exists within the Vatican on this issue, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and recalled that he has many times personally received abuse victims, listening to them and wishing them well.

“I give them strength so that they can go forward,” he said. “We have a responsibility to help the abused and to take care of them. … and to punish the abusers.”

“We must take care of people who have been abused and punish the abusers, because abuse is not a sin of today that perhaps tomorrow will not exist,” the pope said. “It’s a trend; it’s a psychiatric illness, and for this reason, we must offer them treatment and monitor them.”

“You cannot leave an abuser free like that in normal life with responsibility in the parishes, in the schools,” he said.

The pontiff also said he told the Belgian bishops to not be afraid but to keep moving forward after their past failures to properly punish abuse. 

The pope’s comments come on the heels of his decision to laicize former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly encouraged a victim of Vangheluwe’s abuse to remain silent.

The Catholic Church in Belgium is facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier, with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month.

According to a recent report, the number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023.

The visit by Pope Francis follows a series of scandals that have plagued the Belgian Church, culminating in a devastating report released in 2010 that revealed that more than 500 individuals had come forward with allegations of abuse by priests. The fallout from these revelations has led to significant scrutiny of Church leadership and practices, with many calling for a more transparent approach to handling abuse allegations.

A recent documentary, “Godvergeten” (“Godforsaken”), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting investigations into the Church’s practices.

On his first night in Belgium, Pope Francis spent two hours in individual conversations with 17 victims of sexual abuse by priests.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the participants in the meeting shared with Pope Francis “their stories and their sorrows and expressed their expectations regarding the Church’s commitment against abuse.”

The pope “expressed gratitude for their courage and the feeling of shame for what they suffered as children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted.”

Earlier in the day, Francis had addressed the Catholic Church’s long-standing clerical abuse crisis in Belgium during a meeting with around 300 dignitaries, including King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, at Laeken Castle.

He declared that “the Church should be ashamed” and must seek forgiveness for its failures. Child abuse is “a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly, listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread prevention program throughout the world,” he added.

The pope also addressed the topic of abuse at Mass in Belgium’s national stadium in Brussels on Sunday.

He urged the Belgian bishops to bring the evil of abuse to light and not to cover up abuse. “Let the abuser be judged — whether a laywoman, layman, priest, or bishops, let him be judged,” he said in his homily on Sept. 29.

Abortion 

On the flight, Francis also responded to a question from journalist Valerie Dupont of Radio Télévision Belge about abortion, who said people in Belgium were astonished by his words at the tomb of King Baudouin.

“You know that astonishment is the beginning of philosophy,” the pope quipped in response.

The pontiff had called laws legalizing abortion “murderous” and “criminal” during a visit Sept. 28 to the tomb of the Belgian King Baudouin in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.

King Baudouin chose to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion in 1990. Though the cause for beatification is not yet formally open, the pope announced after Mass on Sept. 29 he would start the beatification process for the king who ruled from 1951 until his death in 1993 at the age of 63.

Dupont said some people saw the pope’s comments at the former king’s tomb as “a political interference in the democratic life of Belgium.”

She also asked about the sainthood cause of the king and “how can we make the right to life and the right of women to have a life without suffering coincide?”

In his response, Pope Francis repeated that the choice of King Baudouin to abdicate for three days in order not to sign a “law of death” was “courageous” and exceptional, adding that the Catholic king was able to do this because he was holy. “The process of beatification will go forward because they gave me proof of this,” he said.

“Women have a right to life, to their life, and to the life of their children. Let’s not forget to say this,” the pontiff continued on the papal plane. “An abortion is a homicide. … it kills a human being. The doctors who carry this out are hitmen … And on this there is no debate.”

“Women have the right to protect life,” he said, adding that contraceptives “are another thing. Do not confuse them. I speak only about abortion and you cannot debate this. I’m sorry but it’s the truth.”

Pope Francis’ comments on abortion come as Belgium discusses whether to extend the country’s legal limit of abortion, which is up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

Notably, however, he did not bring up during his trip a different pro-life issue — euthanasia and assisted suicide — despite Belgium having some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.

Papal trip

Pope Francis’ comments on the flight back to Rome came at the end of a four-day visit to the small European countries of Luxembourg and Belgium, where he greeted royal leaders, prime ministers, professors and students, and Catholics in some of the countries’ historic palaces, cathedrals, and universities.

During a one-day stop in the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg on Sept. 26, the pope met with local leaders, including the Catholic Grand Duke Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, and with government authorities and politicians.

The pontiff also held an audience with Catholics in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, in which he emphasized the historically Catholic country’s need to evangelize Europe in the face of rapidly growing secularization.

He told journalists aboard the papal plane Sept. 29 that he was not very familiar with Luxembourg before visiting but the country “impressed” him as a “balanced society with well measured laws and high culture.”

From there, Pope Francis took a 55-minute flight to neighboring Belgium, where he visited three cities Sept. 26–29 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.

In Belgium, besides official meetings with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, with political leaders, and with Catholic clergy, the pope also made a number of off-program stops.

On Friday, he went to St. Joseph Care Home, a residence for elderly facing economic difficulties run by the Little Sisters of Charity.

On the morning of Sept. 28, he had breakfast with a group of 10 homeless people and migrants at the St. Giles Parish, had a private meeting with local Jesuits, and prayed in front of the tomb of the Catholic Belgian King Baudouin, who temporarily abdicated his throne in 1990 rather than sign a law legalizing abortion.

He also made a surprise visit Saturday evening to a gathering of young people. The event “Hope Happening” was organized during the weekend of the papal visit.

In brief off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis encouraged the over 5,000 teens and young adults in attendance at the youth encounter to pray, to “make noise,” to not be lazy, and to help others.

Editor's note: This story was corrected on Sept. 30, 2024, at 3:57 a.m. ET to say that as of the story's publication there is no formal beatification process open for King Baudouin of the Belgians.

Pope Francis prays during Mass at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Sep 29, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis during a Mass in Belgium’s national stadium in Brussels on Sunday gave a strong warning to Catholics about the sin of causing scandal.

He also urged the Belgian bishops to bring the evil of abuse to light and not to cover up abuse.

“Let the abuser be judged — whether a laywoman, layman, priest, or bishops, let him be judged,” the pope said during his homily on Sept. 29.

Addressing an estimated almost 40,000 people in King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium’s largest soccer stadium, Pope Francis quoted from the Gospel of Mark: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42).

“With these words, directed to the disciples, Jesus warns of the danger of scandal, that is, of hindering the path of the ‘little ones,’” the pope said. “It is a strong warning, a stern warning.”

The Catholic Church in Belgium is facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier, with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month. Recent Vatican statistics estimate there were just over 8 million Catholics in the country at the end of 2022.

During the Mass on a cold, partly cloudy day in the small Western European country, Pope Francis also beatified Carmelite Sister Ana de Jesús, a spiritual daughter of St. Teresa of Ávila and a friend to St. John of the Cross. Born Ana de Lobera y Torres, the religious helped expand the Discalced Carmelites to France and Belgium at the turn of the 17th century.

In his homily, the pontiff praised the new blessed as one of the Church’s examples of “‘feminine styles of holiness,’ gentle but strong, made of openness, fellowship, and witness.”

“In the Church of her time, this woman was among the protagonists of a great reform movement,” he continued. “In a time marked by painful scandals, within and outside of the Christian community, she and her companions brought many people back to the faith through their simple lives of poverty, prayer, work, and charity.”

The beatification Mass was Pope Francis’ last stop at the end of nearly three days in Belgium, a constitutional monarchy, where he spoke with Catholic clergy and religious, met with approximately 300 dignitaries including King Philippe and Queen Mathilde as well as Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, and held meetings with professors and students at the country’s two Catholic universities.

The pope also had a number of off-program appointments during the visit — he surprised elderly at a care home, crashed a Catholic youth encounter, and prayed in front of the tomb of Belgian King Baudouin, a Catholic who temporarily abdicated the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion in 1990.

He also spent over two hours in private conversations with 17 victims of clerical sexual abuse on the evening of Sept. 27, a fact he mentioned in his homily on the sin of scandal.

“Let us listen to what Jesus says in the Gospel: Get behind me, scandalous eyes that see the needy and look away! Get behind me, scandalous hands that close your fists to hide your treasures and stash them away! Get behind me, scandalous feet that run quickly, not to draw near to those who suffer, but to avoid them and stay away!” he said. “We must leave this mentality behind! Nothing good or solid can be built upon it!”

The pope also urged Catholics to leave behind selfishness and closed-mindedness, calling them scandals that separate us from God and from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Selfishness, like everything that impedes charity, is ‘scandalous’ because it crushes those who are little,” he added. “It humiliates people in their dignity and suppresses the cry of the afflicted.”

At the end of Mass, Pope Francis led the tens of thousands of people in the stadium in praying the Angelus, a prayer, he said, that “should be revived, for it is a synthesis of the Christian mystery, and the Church teaches us to incorporate it into our daily activities.”

He also said that upon returning to Rome, he would accelerate the process of beatification of King Baudouin, who ruled as King of the Belgians from 1951 until his death in 1993. “May his example as a man of faith enlighten the rulers,” Francis said.

Pope Francis visited the king’s tomb in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels on Sept. 28. According to the Vatican, Pope Francis praised King Baudouin’s courage for choosing to “leave his place as king in order not to sign a murderous law” legalizing abortion.

Groups of Belgian children dressed in yellow and white for the colors of the Holy See sat on the turf in the center of the stadium, surrounding an image of a globe during the Mass. Afterward, a young girl sang a song and the Mass choir also performed other songs.

Before arriving in Belgium, Pope Francis also spent one day in Luxembourg on Sept. 26, where he met with Catholics and with local leaders, including the Catholic Grand Duke Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, and Prime Minister Luc Frieden.

The pontiff will return to Rome on the afternoon of Sept. 29.

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on the village of Sujud in southern Lebanon on Sept. 25, 2024. Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Sept. 24, a day after 492 people, including 35 children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006. / Credit: RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

ACI MENA, Sep 29, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

“No to war!” has become a rallying cry among Lebanon’s Christian communities, who have maintained this stance since clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began heating up. As large parts of the country are being pulled into the escalating military conflict, Christians in Lebanon are preparing to endure a new period of destruction, fear, and displacement.

The fighting between Hezbollah and Israel is spreading to different areas of the country, and missiles launched from Lebanon are reaching further into Israel while Israeli strikes are targeting specific areas across Lebanon that are linked to Hezbollah, including the south, the Bekaa region, and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Despite this being the worst escalation since 2006, it’s not yet considered a “full-scale war.” 

While Christian towns have so far avoided direct shelling, they haven’t escaped the consequences. In a situation all too familiar to the Lebanese since 1975, an important question arises: How are Christian communities coping with the growing conflict?

Christian areas under threat

The rapidly changing situation on the ground is causing fear among Christians. They’re worried about the failure to establish a cease-fire and the potential for things to spiral out of control. These concerns shape their daily lives, which are now punctuated by the sounds of nearby airstrikes and warplanes flying overhead.

In a recent development with clear political implications, Israeli aircraft targeted a town in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon for the first time last Wednesday. This area is known as the heart of the Christian community due to its large Maronite population and the presence of important religious sites like the Maronite Patriarchate and the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon. 

However, the district also includes some villages with a Shiite Muslim majority, including Al-Ma’aysarah. Located about 24 miles from Beirut, this town was directly hit in a raid targeting a Hezbollah official. 

Raquel, who lives on the coast of Keserwan and works at a Catholic school, told ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner: “We’re trying to live normally as much as possible, but we’re consumed by fear. Nowhere feels safe anymore after the bombing of a nearby town [Al-Ma’aysarah]. We want a normal life. We want our children back in school. We pray that God will save us from this madness.”

Soon after, the area around the town of Ras Ashtar, on the road to Annaya in the Jbeil district, was also targeted. This road leads to the Monastery of Mar Maroun Annaya, where the tomb of St. Charbel is located. The sound of shelling echoed through neighboring Christian villages and reached the well-known monastery. 

The local sentiment is unanimous: “We’re not afraid. St. Charbel is here with us. Bombing a town on the road to his shrine won’t stop people from visiting the monastery. Our prayers won’t stop. Lebanon is under the protection of its saint,” they told ACI Mena.

Displaced to safer areas

Christian cities and towns across Lebanon are now crowded with people displaced from southern villages under attack. More than 90,000 people have been displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. Rental homes, public schools, and hotels have opened their doors to host them. However, this hasn’t been the case everywhere. 

ACI Mena learned that some villages in the Keserwan area refused to rent out empty houses, fearing that displaced people might have connections to militant groups, potentially putting their village at risk. Both Shiites and the few Christians living in border villages have been displaced, while most Christians had left before the recent military escalation. 

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi thanked “all those who are receiving our suffering people in their homes in the safe areas” while emphasizing “the need for an immediate cease-fire to avoid more victims, wounded, and displaced people without shelter.” 

Catholic schools haven’t opened their doors to the displaced, announcing that “from Monday, Sept. 30, education might resume either in person, virtually, or in a hybrid mode” depending on each school’s circumstances and location.

A cautious exodus from the capital

Beirut and its suburbs are seeing some Christian families move to their summer homes in rural areas. Many believe it’s necessary to distance themselves from the capital, its key facilities, and its southern suburbs. 

However, this movement is mainly a precautionary measure, especially if attacks increase. Many fear a repeat of the 2006 war scenario, where bridges and vital roads connecting districts were bombed, making it impossible to leave Beirut for Mount Lebanon and the north. During that conflict, many were trapped in their homes, isolated and afraid of dying on the roads.

Airport and market scenes

At Beirut International Airport departure halls are packed, while arrival terminals are empty. This scene, along with most airlines still operating in Beirut canceling flights, adds to the anxiety. It dampens hope for some Christians who want to leave the country if a large-scale war breaks out. A quick search for flights leaving Beirut shows they’re all booked until mid-October, with no seats available.

Stores and pharmacies in all Christian areas are seeing people rush to stock up on food in preparation for the worst, as fears of shortages grow. Retailers are taking advantage of the situation by raising prices in a country with an already-struggling economy. A quick tour of the most prominent stores over the past two days reveals shelves being emptied daily. Some basic items like bread are out of stock.

The situation at gas stations is similar. The owner of a station in Sin el-Fil (Mount Lebanon), which connects Beirut to the Metn and Keserwan districts and extends to the north, told ACI Mena: “We’ve seen a rush to buy gasoline and even diesel in the past three days. As winter approaches, many people fear being stuck in their homes in central and upper Metn without heating if war breaks out.” He confirmed that “there’s enough stock, but Lebanese people’s fear drives them to overstock every time, worried about running out or price gouging.”

Amid these unsettling scenes experienced by the Lebanese in general and Christians in particular, some contradictions are clearly visible in parts of Beirut and most areas of Keserwan, Jbeil (Mount Lebanon), and Batroun (North) that are rarely shown in Western media. Life goes on as normal in most of these Christian-majority cities and towns; restaurants still have customers, traffic is normal with the usual rush-hour congestion, and stores remain open. 

War has become the main topic of conversation for residents, but this grim reality doesn’t stop them from working. With great caution, they wait to see the effects of international efforts to de-escalate the situation, saying: “Enough death, destruction, and displacement!”

This article was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA. 

Officials break ground at a 19-story affordable housing project in downtown Boston on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. / Credit: Andy Ryan

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Boston broke ground last week on a 19-story affordable housing project in downtown Boston.

The archdiocesan Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) is partnering with the largest day shelter in Massachusetts, St. Francis House, a secular nonprofit that serves about 9,000 individuals annually, to build the residential apartments. Work began on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The development, located on La Grange Street, is set to include 126 units, about 70 of which will be reserved for people coming out of homelessness. The unit is mixed income, meaning that the shelter will house a variety of middle- and low-income families and individuals.

The development comes amid an increasing homeless problem in Boston as well as an affordable housing crisis in Massachusetts. The city has seen growing homelessness since 2022 and had a 10.6% increase in the homeless population from 2023 to 2024, according to the annual Homeless Census by the Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing. 

Massachusetts, meanwhile, has a rental housing shortage for extremely low-income households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

“That’s a problem across the board for people that are working-class families, middle-income families; [they] are having a hard time keeping a roof over their heads and providing for their families,” St. Francis House CEO Karen LaFrazia told CNA. “Then it’s almost impossible for anybody who falls into homelessness, that’s extremely low income, to ever find a market-rate apartment.”

“Almost every day, there is an article or story highlighting the high cost of housing, the lack of meaningful affordable rental opportunities, or the zoning restrictions in place that inhibit development, and the impact that each of these has had on individuals, families, and our communities, in Boston especially,” Bill Grogan, the president of POUA, told CNA. 

“It has created the moral, humanitarian, and societal crisis that we find ourselves in today,” he said.

“It’s about building on our common humanity and creating opportunities for people to become neighbors,” LaFrazia told CNA. “We live in an increasingly more polarized world and that is creating divisions between people, and one of the best ways to bring people together is to construct opportunities for people whose lives wouldn’t naturally intersect.”

LaFrazia noted that the housing, which will feature 68 studio apartments, 21 one-bedroom units, and 37 two-bedroom units, is high quality and comparable to the housing in the surrounding areas.  

Grogan said the joint venture between the archdiocese and St. Francis House “represents a unique partnership between experienced, high-quality nonprofit organizations with long track records of serving at-risk and vulnerable populations.”

The two organizations have worked together before, rehabilitating a historic building in downtown Boston into 46 units of affordable housing as well as St. Francis House offices with resources and support designed to “provide opportunities for homeless individuals,” Grogan noted.

“LaGrange Street builds off of our partnership with St. Francis House, combining our development expertise with their expertise as a service provider,” Grogan said. 

St. Francis House was originally founded by the Francsican order at St. Anthony’s Shrine in downtown Boston. It grew into a daytime shelter that provides basic necessities, such as meals, showers, and clothing, as well as support for behavior, health, or medical issues and job search help. 

Though it is a secular organization, LaFrazia said they wanted to work with a group that shared their values, so they are collaborating with the Archdiocese of Boston. 

LaFrazia said faith informs her personally in her work.

“Many of us come to this work from a faith perspective, and that is what certainly drives me,” she said. “But we welcome people of all faiths, of all faith traditions. And I think that our welcoming of people of all faiths is in many ways informed by our faith.”

“We look at every human being that we encounter as our brother and sister: They’re somebody’s brother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s mother, somebody’s child. And so we model our work in that way,” LaFrazia continued. “We can take from Matthew 25 that informs us to be able to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and we do that.”

“People come to us. They may have challenges, but we don’t just see the way they present and stand in judgment,” she continued.

“We see their humanity, and we’re compelled to welcome that person as Christ would into our home, and then to treat them with respect, with dignity, to acknowledge their value as a human being, and then do everything we can to create opportunities for them to be able to thrive and have a quality of life that they deserve.”

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. / Credit: Laxjab2012, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 28, 2024 / 21:37 pm (CNA).

The Peruvian Episcopal Conference announced that on Sept. 25 Pope Francis ordered the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (Sodality of Christian Life) to expel 10 of its members. The measure caused surprise in the Archdiocese of Denver, which has pastoral ties to several of those who were sanctioned.

Peru’s bishops published on their website a press release from the country’s apostolic nunciature, stating that the pontiff, “after assessing the defenses corresponding to the allegations that emerged during the special mission” — sent to Lima in July 2023 — approved the expulsion of 10 members of the organization.

The expelled members are the Sodality’s former superior general, Eduardo Antonio Regal Villa; the archbishop emeritus of Piura, José Antonio Eguren Anselmi; former regional superiors Father Rafael Alberto Ismodes Cascón and Father Erwin Augusto Scheuch Pool; as well as former formators Humberto Carlos Del Castillo Drago, Oscar Adolfo Tokomura, and Father Daniel Alfonso Cardó Soria.

Additional former incorporated members who were expelled include Ricardo Adolfo Trenemann Young and Miguel Arturo Salazar Steiger; and journalist Alejandro Bermúdez Rosell, who until December 2022 served as director of ACI Prensa and ACI Group, news agencies owned by EWTN News since 2014.

The announcement by the nunciature points out that to “adopt such a disciplinary decision, consideration has been given to the scandal produced by the number and severity of the abuses reported by the victims, particularly contrary to the balanced and liberating experience of the evangelical counsels in the context of ecclesial apostolate.”

The text mentions various types of abuse, including physical and spiritual abuse, abuse of conscience and abuse of authority in the administration of ecclesiastical assets and in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism. Details of the charges against any of the expelled members are not included.

The press release further indicates that “Pope Francis, together with the bishops of Peru and those places where the Sodality of Christian Life is present, saddened by what has happened, ask for forgiveness from the victims and join in their suffering. Likewise, they implore this Society of Apostolic Life to initiate a path of justice and reparation.”

Surprise in the Archdiocese of Denver

In a separate statement, the Archdiocese of Denver, where a Sodality community is located, expressed its shock at the news of the expulsions, which it said are “based on accusations that occurred decades ago in South America.”

“While the archdiocese is actively working to understand the full extent of the Vatican’s investigation, we are unable to comment on specifics. This news is inconsistent with our long-standing experience of the men who have served within the Archdiocese of Denver,” the statement added. 

In the text, the archdiocese indicated that “amongst those named living here, Father Daniel Cardó has served nobly and faithfully in Colorado for 17 years. During his time here, Father Cardó has not faced a single disciplinary action against him. He is beloved by his parishioners and well-respected in the community.” 

“The once-dying Holy Name Parish community in Sheridan is now thriving due to his commitment to the Lord and those he serves,” the statement noted of the priest.

Further, the archdiocese led by Archbishop Samuel Aquila indicated that “similarly, Eduardo Regal and Alejandro Bermúdez have served faithfully and with distinction in the Archdiocese of Denver and the findings against them are deeply disappointing, to say the least.” 

The Sodality case

The Sodality of Christian Life (SCV, by its Latin acronym) was founded in Peru in 1971 by Luis Fernando Figari, who was accused of sexual abuse and expelled from the organization by the pope on Aug. 14, following the report of the special mission directed by Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu.

Since 2015, the Sodality had been facing public accusations of sexual abuse and abuse of power following the publication of the book “Half Monks, Half Soldiers” by Peruvian journalists Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz.

In May 2016, the Vatican appointed Cardinal Joseph Tobin, then-archbishop of Indianapolis, as a delegate for the SCV. Among other functions, he was to help its general government in the decisions to be made “about the accusations formulated against the founder.”

In February 2017, the SCV presented its report on cases of abuse committed within the institution, following an investigation carried out by international experts who identified as alleged aggressors Figari, Germán Doig (vicar general who died in 2001), and former members Virgilio Levaggi and Jeffrey Daniels.

On Jan. 10, 2018, the Holy See appointed Noel Londoño, bishop of Jericó, Colombia, as apostolic commissioner and Fray Guillermo Rodríguez as deputy commissioner. Both investigated the status of the SCV and presented Pope Francis with a set of reforms that were approved by the pontiff on Dec. 13, 2018.

In January 2019, it was reported that the Congregation — today Dicastery — for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life elected Sodality member José David Correa as the new superior general for six years.

On Oct. 30, 2021, Correa met with Pope Francis to inform the Holy Father about the changes being made for the “comprehensive renewal” of the community.

At that meeting, Correa delivered to the pontiff documentation on “the process of listening, care, and reparation for victims” along with actions carried out to prevent abuses and information about “the situation of the current legal processes that exist in Peru.”

On Dec. 1, 2023, Pope Francis received José David Correa again within the framework of the Assembly of the Union of Superiors General held in Rome. 

At the time, the Sodality indicated that its superior general gave the pope updated information about the reality of the society of apostolic life, “addressing various aspects linked to the life and apostolic mission of our community.”

On Aug. 14 of this year, after learning of Figari’s expulsion — requested by the SCV from the Vatican in 2019 — the society of apostolic life published a statement in which it reiterated its commitment to renewal, its asking for forgiveness, and its solidarity with the victims.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis prays on Sept. 28, 2024, at the tomb of Belgian king who chose to abdicate rather than sign an abortion law. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Sep 28, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis lauded Belgian King Baudouin for choosing to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion during a visit to the Catholic king’s tomb on Saturday in Belgium.

The pope also expressed hope that the sainthood cause for King Baudouin, who ruled as king of the Belgians from 1951 until 1993, will advance.

According to the Vatican, Pope Francis praised King Baudouin’s courage for choosing to “leave his place as king in order not to sign a murderous law.”

“The pope urged Belgians to look to him at this time when criminal laws are still being made,” the Holy See Press Office said. 

After addressing Belgian bishops in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels on Sept. 28, Pope Francis visited the basilica’s royal crypt named after Our Lady of Laeken, where many members of the Royal House of Belgium are buried.  

Welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, the pope spent a moment in silent prayer before the tomb of King Baudouin in the crypt before lauding his witness to the protection of life.

Pope Francis’ comments about “murderous” and “criminal” laws come amid discussions about whether to extend the legal limit of abortion in Belgium, a country that also has some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.

When abortion was first legalized in Belgium in 1990, King Baudouin chose to abdicate from his duties as king of the Belgians from April 3–5 in order not to sign the bill into law. When Baudouin died at the age of 63 in 1993, he had reigned continuously for 42 years except for those three days.

In the months before the abortion law was passed, Baudouin and his devout wife, Queen Fabiola, made a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto, Italy, and asked the Blessed Virgin Mary for the courage to fight against the abortion law that was then under discussion, according to an article published by the Italian bishops’ newspaper Avvenire in 2019.

During their pilgrimage to Loreto on their 30th wedding anniversary, the couple renewed their wedding vows within the walls of the Holy House.

King Baudouin and his wife suffered from years of infertility. Fabiola was pregnant five times and lost all of their children during pregnancy. The couple found strength amid this cross in the Eucharist. According to the testament of the chaplain of the Belgian Court, the couple attended daily Mass together.

While speaking with the Franciscan friars who serve at the Marian shrine in Loreto, Baudouin reportedly spoke about how he could not be a father as he would have liked and felt that he could not sign a law that would end the life of a child. He said that he and his wife placed their destinies in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking for courage and strength amid this trial.

Following Pope John Paul II’s visit to Belgium in 1995, the Polish pope also had words of praise for the late King Baudouin.

“I am thinking of the recently deceased King Baudouin, whom I had the good fortune to meet several times, not only during my previous visit to Belgium but also in Rome,” John Paul II said during a general audience on June 7, 1995.

“He was a great guardian of the rights of the human conscience, ready to defend the divine commandments, and especially the Fifth Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ especially with regard to the protection of the life of unborn children.”

Andrea Gagliarducci contributed to this report from Brussels, Belgium.

Addressing more than 2,500 priests, deacons, religious sisters, seminarians, catechists, and bishops gathered inside the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels on Sept. 28, 2024, Pope Francis emphasized the urgency of evangelization in Europe. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

A “crisis of faith” in the West requires a return to the Gospel, Pope Francis told Belgian bishops on Saturday morning at the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.

Addressing more than 2,500 priests, deacons, religious sisters, seminarians, catechists, and bishops gathered inside the basilica, the pope emphasized the urgency of evangelization in Europe.

“The changes in our time and the crisis of faith we are experiencing in the West have impelled us to return to what is essential, namely the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.

“The good news that Jesus brought to the world must once again be proclaimed to all and allowed to shine forth in all its beauty,” he added.

The pope’s remarks come at a critical time for the Catholic Church in Belgium, which is facing significant declines in public trust and participation. 

Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a decline of 16% from 10 years prior. Attendance at Mass has also dropped significantly, with only 8.9% of the population attending at least once a month. 

The pope noted that the current crisis reflects a significant shift in the Church’s role in society. 

“We have moved from a Christianity located within a welcoming social framework to a ‘minority’ Christianity, or … a Christianity of witness,” he said.

This transformation, he argued, requires priests “who are in love with Jesus Christ and who are attentive to responding to the often implicit demands of the Gospel as they walk with God’s holy people.”

Pope Francis was welcomed to the basilica by Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Malines-Brussels, who highlighted the historical contributions of Belgian missionaries, including St. Damien of Molokai, who was beatified in the basilica in 1995.

Located atop Koekelberg hill, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the fifth-largest Catholic church in the world, according to the Vatican. Inspired after a visit to Paris’ Sacred Heart basilica, Belgium’s King Leopold II called for the construction of the basilica. The king himself laid the first stone in 1905, but the basilica was not finished until 1970 as construction was halted during the two World Wars.

During the meeting at the basilica with local Belgian Catholics, Pope Francis reflected on the upcoming second Vatican assembly of the Synod on Synodality, scheduled to begin on Oct. 2.

When asked by Dr. Arnaud Join-Lambert, a theologian on the synod secretariat’s Methodology Commission, about the future of synodality in the secularized West, the pope responded that “the synodal process must involve returning to the Gospel.”

Pope Francis underlined that synodality should not be “about prioritizing ‘fashionable’ reform but asking, ‘How can we bring the Gospel to a society that is no longer listening or has distanced itself from the faith?’”

The wounds of abuse

In Belgium, the “crisis of faith” has gone hand in hand with revelations of clerical abuse by Church leadership. 

At the basilica, the pope listened intently to testimonies from various Church representatives, including Mia De Schamphelaere, who works with victims of abuse in Flanders.

“When the first major abuse crisis erupted in our Church in 2010, following a bishop’s confession of abuse, the social upheaval was great,” she said.

“There followed a flood of reports from victims who testified, sometimes for the first time in their lives, that they had been abused at a young age by a priest or religious person. Like many citizens, we felt horror, sadness, and helplessness. We were also shocked and ashamed as believers.”

Earlier this year, Pope Francis laicized former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly called on a victim of Vangheluwe’s abuse to remain silent.

De Schamphelaere poignantly shared with the pope the traumatic impact of the abuse crisis. 

“Victims of abuse at a young age bring with them lifelong suffering. How can the Church see, recognize, and learn from the wounds of survivors?” she asked. 

In response, the pope emphasized the necessity of mercy and compassion. “There is a need for a great deal of mercy to keep us from hardening our hearts before the suffering of victims,” he stated. He urged the Church to be “at the service of all without belittling anyone,” acknowledging that the roots of violence often stem from an abuse of power.

Pope Francis met personally with 17 victims of clerical abuse in Belgium for more than two hours on Friday night at the apostolic nunciature in Brussels where he listened to their stories and their expectations regarding the Church’s commitment against abuse, according to the Holy See Press Office.

It was one of many meetings in Belgium not included in the pope’s official schedule. The pope also received European Union and World Health Organization representatives at the nunciature on Saturday morning before making a quick surprise stop at the Church of St. Gilles in Brussels to visit the homeless assisted by the parish. 

Pope Francis was gifted with some beer brewed by the parish, the profits of which are used to support their service to the homeless.