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Belgian church 'scared to apologize'
Source: Agencies |
September 15, 2010, Wednesday
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THE Belgian Roman Catholic church is afraid to give a full apology for the sexual abuse of children by its priests as this could open the door to compensation claims, a senior bishop said yesterday.
"If we say 'mea culpa', then we are morally responsible, legally responsible, and then people come wanting money," Bishop Guy Harpigny, the Belgian bishops' spokesman on abuse issues, told Belgium's Radio 1. "We are afraid. Who will ask - the victims, the court or someone else? That's why we are so careful."
A church commission studying 475 complaints revealed last Friday that sexual abuse had been rife in Catholic institutions in the 1960s and 1970s, and led 13 victims to commit suicide.
But church and judicial authorities have not come up with a clear strategy. Police seized the 475 files and other dossiers in June, but a court declared the raid illegal and ordered the material returned.
On Monday the church announced a plan to open a support and reconciliation center later this year, but victims' groups said it was too vague, and urged the state to launch another inquiry.
"After the news conference, I got a lot of calls, including from parliamentary deputies, that said 'Please, give all the files to the justice authorities'," Harpigny, who is bishop of Tournai, said.
Asked about an apology, the bishop told Radio 1: "As an institution I must accept that I am responsible, albeit for things that happened in the 1960s, and that is why, in the name of the church, I ask the victims for forgiveness."
"If we say 'mea culpa', then we are morally responsible, legally responsible, and then people come wanting money," Bishop Guy Harpigny, the Belgian bishops' spokesman on abuse issues, told Belgium's Radio 1. "We are afraid. Who will ask - the victims, the court or someone else? That's why we are so careful."
A church commission studying 475 complaints revealed last Friday that sexual abuse had been rife in Catholic institutions in the 1960s and 1970s, and led 13 victims to commit suicide.
But church and judicial authorities have not come up with a clear strategy. Police seized the 475 files and other dossiers in June, but a court declared the raid illegal and ordered the material returned.
On Monday the church announced a plan to open a support and reconciliation center later this year, but victims' groups said it was too vague, and urged the state to launch another inquiry.
"After the news conference, I got a lot of calls, including from parliamentary deputies, that said 'Please, give all the files to the justice authorities'," Harpigny, who is bishop of Tournai, said.
Asked about an apology, the bishop told Radio 1: "As an institution I must accept that I am responsible, albeit for things that happened in the 1960s, and that is why, in the name of the church, I ask the victims for forgiveness."
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