This was announced by the Belgian Bishops’ Conference on Friday.
The funeral has already taken place in the closest circle.
Vangheluwe resigned as diocesan bishop in April 2010 after it was revealed that he had sexually assaulted a nephew for years. Vangheluwe admitted the acts and confessed to the abuse of another nephew in 2011.
In 2017, a then 57-year-old man accused him of having been abused by him as a messenger in the early 1970s.
In 2024, Pope Francis released him from the cleric stand. This is the highest punishment that church law provides for clergy.
Concern for those affected by abuse
The Belgian Bishops’ Conference said it was aware that the news of Vangheluwe’s death in those affected by abuse could trigger a new wave of emotions.
The statement said the bishops "recognize the ongoing suffering caused by the sexual abuse within the Church and reaffirm their commitment to acknowledge and care for the victims."
The Vangheluwe abuse case led to major political changes in Belgium in 2010.
Shortly after his resignation, state abuse investigators stormed church facilities and seized files, computers and mobile phones of the bishops gathered in Mechelen as part of the so-called Operation Chalice.
The then Brussels Archbishop Andre Leonard and his predecessor, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, had to testify before a parliamentary committee of inquiry.
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