In a press release issued just
moments after the pope’s speech, UCLouvain criticized Francis’ remarks
on women as “conservative” and “deterministic and reductive.”
The university said it “expresses
its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope
Francis regarding the role of women in the Church and in society.”
The university took particular issue with the pontiff’s comment that “woman is a fertile welcome, care,
vital devotion,” which the Vatican’s official English version of the speech translated as “fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication.”
“UCLouvain is an inclusive
university and committed to the fight against sexist and sexual
violence,” the release stated. “It reaffirms its desire for everyone to
flourish within it and in society, whatever their origins, gender, or
sexual orientation. It calls on the Church to follow the same path,
without any form of discrimination.”
During the in-flight press
conference returning from Belgium, Italian journalist Annachiara Valle
of the magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked for the pope’s response to the
university’s criticisms.
Pope Francis called the press release “premade” and “not moral” for having been written “in the moment in which I spoke.”
“I always talk about the dignity of
women,” he said. “I said something that I cannot say about men: The
Church is woman, she is the bride of Jesus. To masculinize women is not
human. Women, I always say, are more important than men, because the
Church is the bride of Jesus.”
He said if this seems
“conservative” to some people, it is because they do not understand, or
“there is an obtuse mind that does not want to hear about this.”
Reiterating his many past
statements on the Marian and Petrine theological principles defining the
different roles of men and women in the Church, Francis also praised
“the mysticism of woman [as] greater than” ordained ministries such as
priests or deacons.
Abuse
In the press conference, journalist
Andrea Vreede of the Dutch NOS TV asked Pope Francis about abuse and
how the Vatican might better respond to the needs and requests of
victims.
Pope Francis pointed out that an
institution already exists within the Vatican on this issue, the
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and recalled that he
has many times personally received abuse victims, listening to them and
wishing them well.
“I give them strength so that they
can go forward,” he said. “We have a responsibility to help the abused
and to take care of them. … and to punish the abusers.”
“We must take care of people who
have been abused and punish the abusers, because abuse is not a sin of
today that perhaps tomorrow will not exist,” the pope said. “It’s a
trend; it’s a psychiatric illness, and for this reason, we must offer
them treatment and monitor them.”
“You cannot leave an abuser free like that in normal life with responsibility in the parishes, in the schools,” he said.
The pontiff also said he told the
Belgian bishops to not be afraid but to keep moving forward after their
past failures to properly punish abuse.
The pope’s comments come on the
heels of his decision to laicize former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe
many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually
abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late
Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly encouraged a victim of
Vangheluwe’s abuse to remain silent.
The Catholic Church in Belgium is
facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians
identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier,
with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month.
According to a recent report, the
number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from
baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023.
The visit by Pope Francis follows
a series of scandals that have plagued the Belgian Church, culminating
in a devastating report released in 2010 that revealed that more than
500 individuals had come forward with allegations of abuse by priests.
The fallout from these revelations has led to significant scrutiny of
Church leadership and practices, with many calling for a more
transparent approach to handling abuse allegations.
A recent documentary, “Godvergeten”
(“Godforsaken”), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing
their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting
investigations into the Church’s practices.
On his first night in Belgium, Pope
Francis spent two hours in individual conversations with 17 victims of
sexual abuse by priests.
According to the Holy See Press
Office, the participants in the meeting shared with Pope Francis “their
stories and their sorrows and expressed their expectations regarding the
Church’s commitment against abuse.”
The pope “expressed gratitude for
their courage and the feeling of shame for what they suffered as
children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted.”
Earlier in the day, Francis had
addressed the Catholic Church’s long-standing clerical abuse crisis in
Belgium during a meeting with around 300 dignitaries, including King
Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, at Laeken Castle.
He declared that “the Church
should be ashamed” and must seek forgiveness for its failures. Child
abuse is “a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly,
listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread
prevention program throughout the world,” he added.
The pope also addressed the topic of abuse at Mass in Belgium’s national stadium in Brussels on Sunday.
He urged the Belgian bishops to
bring the evil of abuse to light and not to cover up abuse. “Let the
abuser be judged — whether a laywoman, layman, priest, or bishops, let
him be judged,” he said in his homily on Sept. 29.
Abortion
On the flight, Francis also
responded to a question from journalist Valerie Dupont of Radio
Télévision Belge about abortion, who said people in Belgium were
astonished by his words at the tomb of King Baudouin.
“You know that astonishment is the beginning of philosophy,” the pope quipped in response.
The pontiff had called laws legalizing abortion “murderous” and “criminal” during a visit Sept. 28 to the tomb of the Belgian King Baudouin in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.
King Baudouin chose to temporarily
abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion in 1990.
Though the cause for beatification is not yet formally open, the pope
announced after Mass on Sept. 29 he would start the beatification process for the king who ruled from 1951 until his death in 1993 at the age of 63.
Dupont said some people saw the
pope’s comments at the former king’s tomb as “a political interference
in the democratic life of Belgium.”
She also asked about the sainthood
cause of the king and “how can we make the right to life and the right
of women to have a life without suffering coincide?”
In his response, Pope Francis repeated that the choice of King Baudouin
to abdicate for three days in order not to sign a “law of death” was
“courageous” and exceptional, adding that the Catholic king was able to
do this because he was holy. “The process of beatification will go
forward because they gave me proof of this,” he said.
“Women have a right to life, to
their life, and to the life of their children. Let’s not forget to say
this,” the pontiff continued on the papal plane. “An abortion is a
homicide. … it kills a human being. The doctors who carry this out are
hitmen … And on this there is no debate.”
“Women have the right to protect
life,” he said, adding that contraceptives “are another thing. Do not
confuse them. I speak only about abortion and you cannot debate this.
I’m sorry but it’s the truth.”
Pope Francis’ comments on abortion
come as Belgium discusses whether to extend the country’s legal limit of
abortion, which is up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
Notably, however, he did not bring
up during his trip a different pro-life issue — euthanasia and assisted
suicide — despite Belgium having some of the most liberal euthanasia
laws in the world.
Papal trip
Pope Francis’ comments on the
flight back to Rome came at the end of a four-day visit to the small
European countries of Luxembourg and Belgium, where he greeted royal
leaders, prime ministers, professors and students, and Catholics in some
of the countries’ historic palaces, cathedrals, and universities.
During a one-day stop in the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg
on Sept. 26, the pope met with local leaders, including the Catholic
Grand Duke Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, and with
government authorities and politicians.
The pontiff also held an audience
with Catholics in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, in which
he emphasized the historically Catholic country’s need to evangelize
Europe in the face of rapidly growing secularization.
He told journalists aboard the
papal plane Sept. 29 that he was not very familiar with Luxembourg
before visiting but the country “impressed” him as a “balanced society
with well measured laws and high culture.”
From there, Pope Francis took a
55-minute flight to neighboring Belgium, where he visited three cities
Sept. 26–29 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.
In Belgium, besides official meetings with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, with political leaders, and with Catholic clergy, the pope also made a number of off-program stops.
On Friday, he went to St. Joseph
Care Home, a residence for elderly facing economic difficulties run by
the Little Sisters of Charity.
On the morning of Sept. 28, he had
breakfast with a group of 10 homeless people and migrants at the St.
Giles Parish, had a private meeting with local Jesuits, and prayed in
front of the tomb of the Catholic Belgian King Baudouin, who temporarily
abdicated his throne in 1990 rather than sign a law legalizing
abortion.
He also made a surprise visit
Saturday evening to a gathering of young people. The event “Hope
Happening” was organized during the weekend of the papal visit.
In brief off-the-cuff remarks, Pope
Francis encouraged the over 5,000 teens and young adults in attendance
at the youth encounter to pray, to “make noise,” to not be lazy, and to
help others.
