Belgium: 400 abuse allegations in recent weeks
Thursday, June 03 2010 @ 06:06 PM BST
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Tag: germanyCatholics in Belgium have reported 400 abuse allegations since the April 23 resignation of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who admitted abusing a boy before and after his ordination as a bishop.
European and American newspapers subsequently reported that the boy was his nephew.
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The New York Times attributes the flood of abuse allegations to the confidence Belgians have in Peter Adriaenssens, the child-abuse specialist who was recently named head of the commission that the Belgian bishops have established to address the abuse scandal.
Adriaenssens offered praise for Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Mechelen-Brussels, the “Belgian Ratzinger” who was recently appointed the nation’s primate. “Suddenly, on television, they heard their boss, the archbishop, say, ‘I will not cover anymore,’ ” Mr. Adriaenssens said. “In these first cases I’m impressed by the fact that a large majority, nearly all these priests, largely are cooperative because they realize the pressure of public opinion, the pressure of the bishops.”
http://christianchildabuse.blogspot.c...ecent.html
