Almost a year after a scandal engulfed Belgium
following the resignation of a Roman Catholic bishop who admitted he
had sexually abused boys, a parliamentary commission called Wednesday
for a new panel to adjudicate compensation claims for the hundreds of
people who say they were the victims of predatory priests.
The parliamentary investigation was the most comprehensive attempt yet
to draw lessons from an abuse scandal that, like those in Ireland and
the United States, sent shock waves through the country and plunged the
Catholic Church into crisis.
The commission did not investigate specific
cases of abuse.
And, while a representative of one victims’ group welcomed the findings,
she said it would be vital to insure that any new arbitration committee
would be truly independent.
“Many questions were posed, many things were said and many things were
learned about an issue that has been taboo in our society,” said Karine
Lalieux, the Belgian deputy who headed the special commission after the
conclusions were approved.
“The victims were at the heart of our
recommendations and at the heart of our report. We were working for
them.”
In all, the five-month special commission made 70 recommendations after
an inquiry that heard evidence from more than 110 people and held
approximately 60 sessions.
Its most important proposal was to establish a new body to arbitrate the
complaints, with the power to award financial compensation.
It also recommended an extension of the statute of limitations on crimes
of sexual abuse to 15 years, up from 10, and a host of measures to help
victims report cases of abuse and to help the authorities investigate
them effectively.
After a marathon negotiating session Wednesday, lawmakers on the
commission agreed on a package of conclusions in a unanimous vote.
Although they are not legally binding, the fact that the proposals have
such strong cross-party support suggested that they were highly likely
to be adopted.
The commission’s full report will be published shortly.
Lieve Halsberghe, who represents the Survivors Network of Those Abused
by Priests, said the committee had done a thorough job, but that it was
vital to monitor the implementation of the proposals if they are taken
up.
“We will have to stay here to be the watchdog for the survivors
because the church cannot be trusted,” she said. “This has been a black
page in Belgium’s history.”
Toon Osaer, a spokesman for the bishops, said it was too early to give a
response because the full report had not been published.
“The bishops
will look to see what proposals will be useful,” he said. “We will study
them carefully.”
The church has not committed itself to making any comprehensive financial settlement with victims.
But one member of the parliamentary commission, Marie Christine Marghem, said that issue had to be broached.
“It is obvious that the church must repair the damage it has caused,” she said. “The obligation is a natural one.”
Since Roger Vangheluwe
resigned last April as bishop of Bruges, hundreds of victims have come
forward, many with harrowing testimony, and last year a report by an
internal commission set up by the church said that 13 people were
believed to have committed suicide as a result of sex abuse.
The police inquiry in Belgium provoked international controversy, and condemnation from the Vatican,
when the church headquarters in Mechelen was raided in June last year
and the tomb of a cardinal was disturbed in an unsuccessful hunt for
proof of a cover-up.
The police investigations into the abuse scandal continue.
Last September the head of Belgium’s Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop
André-Joseph Léonard, acknowledged the scale of the scandal and promised
to engage further with victims.
But he disappointed groups representing those who say they were abused
by failing to offer compensation to the victims or to make substantial
promises about further pursuing the perpetrators.
At the time, Archbishop Léonard said that suffering had caused a
“shiver” to run through the church, but that it was too soon for a
detailed response to the crisis.
The scandal shocked Belgium when Bishop Vangheluwe admitted that he had
abused a boy who was later revealed to be his nephew.
After his resignation Bishop Vangheluwe retreated to a Trappist
monastery. He has since gone into hiding somewhere in Belgium.
He is not being prosecuted because of Belgium’s statute of limitations,
and the church authorities in Belgium have said it was for the Vatican
to decide on any punishment for the former bishop.