Pope Benedict XVI has named a successor to the bishop of Bruges in Belgium, who resigned after a child abuse scandal that resulted in police raiding an archdiocese near Brussels.The new appointee Jozef De Kesel was previously the bishop of the Bulna diocese and auxiliary at the Mechelen-Brussels archdiocese near the capital of Belgium.
De Kesel now takes over missions from Roger Vangheluwe whose tenure was tainted by numerous sexual assaults, forcing him to tender his resignation letter in April, according to a statement by the head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI.
Vangheluwe was the longest-serving bishop in Belgium.
A Belgian committee probing priest pedophilia allegations has been flooded with hundreds of new complaints since Vangheluwe' resignation, AFP reported.
The sex abuse scandal gripping the Catholic Church became even more complicated on Thursday, when Belgian police raided the headquarters of the archdiocese near Brussels after prosecutors handed over reports of fresh abuses.
SIC: PTV