Abuse Took Tears to Ignte Belgian Clergy Inquiry

[Stuart G]

Abuse Took Years to Ignite Belgian Clergy Inquiry
By DOREEN CARVAJAL and STEPHEN CASTLE
Published: July 12, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/world/europe/13belgium.html?hp

Belgium — Behind an aggressive investigation of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Belgium that drew condemnation from the pope himself lies a stark family tragedy: the molestation, for years, of a youth by his uncle, the bishop of Bruges; the prelate’s abrupt resignation when a friend of the nephew finally threatened to make the abuse public; and now the grass-roots fury of almost 500 people complaining of abuse by priests.


Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges in the Holy Blood Procession in 2007. He quit this year after he admitted molesting a boy.
The first resignation of a European bishop for abusing a child relative came unexpectedly on April 23. At 73, the Bruges bishop, Roger Vangheluwe, Belgium’s longest-serving prelate, tersely announced his retirement and acknowledged molesting “a boy in my close entourage.”

The boy, not named, was his own nephew, now in his early 40s.

The nephew’s story, pieced together through documents and interviews with him and others, shows that the nephew, acting after years of torment and strong evidence of church inaction, finally forced the bishop’s hand when the friend sent e-mail messages to all of Belgium’s bishops threatening to expose Bishop Vangheluwe.

For nearly 25 years, the nephew said, he sought to alert others that he had been molested by his uncle. Abuse started when he was 10, according to a retired priest, the Rev. Rik Devillé, who said he had tried to warn Belgium’s cardinal, Godfried Danneels, about the Bruges prelate’s abuse 14 years ago, but was berated for doing so

[Angry Dragon]

1. And the church wonders why there are many who condemn

the church. It is this behavior, the hiding of gross crimes, that has the people up in arms.
It seems the protection of the church is more important than the souls they say they are trying to save.

[Brickbat]

2. IIRC from my youth, there are crimes that in Catholic teaching "cry out to the holy spirit for

vengeance."

Withholding wages is one, which I like. Sodomy is another. This, however, is what I think of when I hear "sodomy" -- I cannot believe these crimes are not crying out to the holy spirit for vengeance. And I'm a nonbeliever.

Slight drift, but this sentence sucks:

The boy, not named, was his own nephew, now in his early 40s.

"Own" is incorrect and made me sit and think for a few minutes about how one can be one's own nephew. /editor