Belgium’s bishops reacted warily to a Flemish newspaper’s claim that they have done little since reports in 2015 accused the Church of selling 30,000 babies from Catholic institutions to adoptive parents in the post-war period.
The single mothers, who were institutionalised in homes run by nuns, did not know the Church charged the new parents from the equivalent of €250-€750 for each child born in Belgian or nearby French hospitals, Het Laatste Nieuws reported.
Its report Kinderen van de Kerk (Children of the Church), quoting several now adult adoptees, said that from 1950 until the 1980s, these mothers gave birth covered by a sheet or under general anaesthetics and never saw their new-borns. Some mothers were sterilised, it added.
The report follows criticism of bishops prompted by the recent Flemish television miniseries Gotvergeten (Forgotten by God), which accused them of not following up on known reports of years of clerical sexual abuse.
“Gotvergeten was shocking,” said the Brussels daily La DH in an editorial. “Kinderen van de Kerk adds filth to disgust.”
Shortly before the Kindern van de Kerk report was published, Pope Francis announced that he would visit Belgium next September.
The Belgian bishops apologised in 2015 to victims of the forced adoptions and joined the Flemish parliament in calling for an official inquiry. “That apology, that compassion and complete willingness still apply today,” the bishops’ conference said in response to the report.
Conference spokesman Fr Tommy Scholtes rejected the expression “bought children”, telling AFP that adoptive parents had “contributed financially to the functioning of the religious communities”.
Asked what had happened to the inquiry, he responded: “The request has remained a dead letter.”
Adoptees interviewed were less diplomatic. Federal MP Yngvild Ingels, born in a nearby French hospital “of unknown parentage”, called for an official inquiry into the Church and secular officials who she said had collaborated to hide what many victims call human trafficking.
It appears that the proposal for the original inquiry, to be held by the official Flemish agency Kind en Gezin (Child and Family) with information provided by religious orders involved, was not realised because births were not recorded or files on them have been destroyed.
“Nobody knows the exact figure because it wasn’t registered,” said Debby Mattys, another victim. “But the number is enormous.”
The association Mater Matuta, which has pressured for the victims since 2014, estimates the number of victims at 30,000.
Amid the Church’s troubles, some politicians have called for an end to long-standing state subsidies for religions in Belgium. Opinion in traditionally Catholic Flanders has been opposed to this, but that may not last.