Belgian Catholic Church Child-Sex Abuse Victims Sue Holy See

See also:

Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Child Abuse (AP)


Belgian abuse victims sue Holy See (Sydney Morning Herald/AFP, June 3, 2011):

DOZENS of victims of a child-sex scandal in the Belgian Catholic Church are launching legal action against the Holy See, the first such suit in Europe.

Lawyers and victims said on Wednesday at a news conference that a summons was on its way to Rome, as well as to Belgian bishops, to appear before a civil court for failing to stop sexual abuse by priests and church workers. Lawyers said the group of some 80 plaintiffs was growing by the day.

”The Pope is the head of the Holy See,” said lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge.

”He neglected to intervene himself and to give instructions, which meant that abuse was liable to continue and the damage was able to increase.”

Belgium’s Catholics are reeling over revelations last year of nearly 500 cases of abuse by priests and church workers since the 1950s, including 13 known suicides among victims.

Among victims who stood up to denounce the church’s failure was journalist and author Roel Verschueren, who said he had been abused by Jesuits from age 12 to 14. ”We’ve all been living for years with a church which is in denial.” he said. ”Now we’re turning the situation around. We’re in charge, we’re choosing an independent judicial framework.”

Verschueren said the victims wanted the church to admit its guilt and to pay for the trauma of lost childhoods and lost years.

The Belgian church this week offered compensation via an arbitration panel suggested by Parliament.

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