Pope Benedict XVI has appointed three new auxiliary bishops to assist Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard of Mechelen-Brussels.
Msgrs. Jean-Luc Hudsyn, Jean Kockerols and Leon Lemmens were appointed Feb. 22.
The Belgian Church has been rocked by clerical abuse scandals in recent years.
Archbishop Leonard was appointed in Jan. 2010 in part in response to
the scandals, which occurred under Cardinal Godfried Danneels, now
retired.
Archbishop Leonard was called by some the "Belgian Ratzinger"
for his no-tolerance policy on sexual abuse.
Just months after Archbishop Leonard's appointment, Bishop Roger
Vangheluwe of Bruges, Belgium resigned following revelations of charges
of past abuse.
Within weeks, more than 400 abuse allegations against
priests were made public and in June, authorities stormed diocesan
offices in Brussels and confiscated the files and computers of the
diocesan commission investigating abuse claims.
No charges against the
Church were filed.
More controversy came in October with the release of a book of interviews with Archbishop Leonard.
In it, the archbishop was quoted as suggesting that AIDS was a “a kind of immanent justice,” for homosexual activity.
“If we act inappropriately with physical nature, nature in turn will
mistreat us,” the archbishop is quoted as saying.
“And when people deal
inappropriately with the deeper meaning of human love, that brings
catastrophes at all levels.”
The statements caused a riot in international media and led to the
resignation of the archbishop's spokesperson.
Since then, however, the
archbishop has kept well under the radar.
The Pope's appointment of the three auxiliaries comes after a winter season of relative peace and quiet for the Belgian Church.
Father Tommy Scholtes, S.J., spokesman for the country’s bishops,
told CNA that having a number of auxiliary bishops has been a "normal"
thing in the archdiocese in recent years.
He did not see any special
significance to appointing all three at the same time.
"I think this is good news for everybody," he said of the
appointments, adding that he didn't anticipate any problems.
“I haven't
heard anything, either yesterday or today."
After Archbishop Leonard's appointment last January, there were
rather public complaints that he was "too conservative" for the nation.
After a rocky 2010, the archbishop is “going in a good direction," Fr. Scholtes said.
With the appointments of the auxiliaries, he added, "I think it will be better now."
Msgr. Hudsyn, 63, will now be in charge of the French-speaking region
south of Brussels called the Vicariate of Walloon Brabant.
He was
groomed into the position through 22 years of service to the former
auxiliary bishop in charge of the same region.
Msgr. Hudsyn already serves in a number of administrative and
pastoral capacities in the area.
According to a press release from the
archdiocese, Msgr. Hudsyn pays particular attention to the theological
and pastoral formation of the laity.
He also prepares and accompanies
permanent deacons in their service and has also been very involved in
media relations.
The 52-year old Msgr. Jean Kockerols has a broad formation in law,
philosophy, theology and cooperation and development.
He has worked
largely in parishes and founded a pastoral studies center in Brussels in
2001.
He has been dean of the Church's Brussels-South region in recent
years and works as director of the department of faith, formator at the
diocesan seminary and course leader at the
Institute of Theological
Studies.
As auxiliary, Msgr. Kockerols will head the Vicariate of Brussels.
Msgr. Leon Lemmens, 56, is being called back to Belgium from his
current position as official of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches in charge of Formation and Study.
He is specialized in
collaboration with the Eastern Orthodox churches and is a member of the
Sant'Egidio community.
Msgr. Lemmens has served as president of the Major Seminary of
Hasselt, Belgium and rector of the College Romain in Rome.
He has worked
in vocations, permanent formation and on the inter-diocesan commission
for media and culture.
He will oversee the Flemish Brabant region, the Dutch-speaking area that surrounds Brussels.
The three will be ordained on Sunday, April 3 in the Basilica of Koekelberg.