Belgium's Roman Catholic leader has sworn off public remarks until
Christmas after outraging public opinion twice this month with jarring
comments about AIDS and a call for mercy for retired paedophile priests.
Brussels Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, already under fire
because of the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests, caused a
storm two weeks ago when he said in a new book that AIDS was "a sort of
inherent justice."
Politicians, abuse victims and some leading lay Catholics rounded
on him again this week after he said that prosecuting retired priests
for abuse they committed long ago was "a kind of vengeance" that they
should be spared.
"We're in a very serious crisis and the last thing we need is
more commotion," Leonard's spokesman, Jurgen Mettepenningen, told
Belgium's VTM television on Thursday evening.
"I've agreed with Archbishop Leonard that there should now be as
much radio silence as possible until Christmas" so that the Church can
concentrate on overcoming the crisis and carrying out its main task of
preaching the Gospel, he said.
Belgium's Catholic Church ranks just after Ireland's as the
Church hardest hit by a wave of sexual abuse scandals that rolled across
Europe in the past two years.
A popular bishop quit in April after confessing to abusing his
nephew, and a cardinal's reputation was badly tarnished by accusations
of covering up sex scandals, which he denies.
Almost 600 alleged cases
of past abuse have been registered since then.
Losing patience with the bishops, the lower house of parliament
decided on Thursday to set up a special commission to investigate the
abuse crisis. One deputy suggested changing tax laws to reduce a state
subsidy the Church receives.
Senator Rik Torfs, a canon lawyer, suggested Catholics sign a
petition for Pope Benedict to remove Leonard from his top job in Belgium
by "promoting him to Rome."
He said: "The archbishop doesn't speak in
our name and we didn't want him."
"LITTLE EMPATHY FOR VICTIMS"
Leonard, who took over as primate of Belgium in January, reacted
to the uproar over AIDS by saying his words had been misunderstood and
he did not mean to stigmatise sufferers.
After he said on Wednesday that retired priests need not be
prosecuted for alleged abuses because they were no longer in pastoral
work, his spokesman said defensively: "Archbishop Leonard just wanted to
bring some humanity to the debate."
During Thursday's parliamentary debate on launching a special
commission on abuse, several politicians insisted the state, not the
Church, must decide who would be prosecuted.
Two leading Catholic magazines, Kerk en Leven and Tertio, have
distanced themselves from Leonard, who is considered the most
conservative and most outspoken of Belgium's bishops.
"I have the impression that he has very little empathy for the
victims of sexual abuse," Bert Claerhout, editor of Kerk en Leven, told
the daily De Standaard. "Leonard keeps on provoking ... I think and I
hope that he's not doing this knowingly."
The victims' support group Human Rights in the Church said the
archbishop's comments showed he did not want to discuss the Church's
responsibility for the abuse scandals.
"The Church always talks about understanding and listening but does all it can to thwart
justice for victims," it said.
A Church-appointed panel reported in September that it had opened
dossiers on 475 claims of clerical sexual abuse, much of it going back
to the 1960s and 1970s. The federal prosecutor's office said last week
it had received 103 more abuse reports.
Belgium's Catholic bishops announced in September they would set
up a special support and reconciliation centre for abuse victims, but
withdrew the offer after victims loudly criticised it as a bid to avoid
an independent inquiry.
SIC: CC/INT'L