Vatican expresses surprise, indignation at raid on Belgian archdiocese

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By Sarah Delaney
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a strongly worded statement, the Vatican expressed surprise and indignation at the way Belgian police carried out a raid on the headquarters of the Belgian Catholic Church in connection with an investigation into alleged priestly sex abuse.

The statement June 25 from the Vatican Secretariat of State expressed “true surprise” for the nine-hour-long police blitz and “indignation” for what it said was the violation of tombs of two late cardinals during the search June 24.
 
Just WOW!!

Given the weak objection to the raid, it appears even the Bishops and Cardinals recognize that civil trust has been (rightfully) destroyed by the actions and inactions of the Church. I wonder what will be found in the records…

I wonder more and more if this is what Our Lady of Fatima meant when she said the Holy Father will have much to suffer. It seems much more likely to me that her message would be about the Universal Church than about an assasination attempt on one Pope.
 
momor said:
Just WOW!!

Given the weak objection to the raid, it appears even the Bishops and Cardinals recognize that civil trust has been (rightfully) destroyed by the actions and inactions of the Church.
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First, I don’t think this post is not sufficient to get a real feel for the attitude of the vatican. Second, from the little that is presented here, the attitude I see it the virtue of humility before the law. It does not necessarily reflect anything on the recognition of broken trust. They are doing everything and anything to help better the situation.

Cymonk
 
cymonk said:
First, I don’t think this post is not sufficient to get a real feel for the attitude of the vatican. Second, from the little that is presented here, the attitude I see it the virtue of humility before the law. It does not necessarily reflect anything on the recognition of broken trust. They are doing everything and anything to help better the situation.

Cymonk
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And I was trying to be charitable in stating that they recognized the broken trust 😊
 
I know nothing about Belgium law but here in the US the police do not raid multiple locations simultaneously, confiscate cell phones, and sequester people for 9 hours unless there is good reason to suspect an attempt to thwart justice. Something caused them to go this route vs supoena of records.
 
This is our punishment for not acting according to God’s law.

in the old days this would be impossible for such a thing to happened. the Church always had authority and the Church has everything and autonomy to punish and those who commits sins in the Church. today the world was given the right to just come into the Church and punish Catholics for commiting sins within the Church.

The Church is loosing its autonomy and the world seems to be in charge now. God will give us to the nations to be punished when we become dissobedient.

it happened to Israel and will happen to us also.

today, we all tend to explain every action through human understanding. never God’s doing. the beauty of Israel is that they always recognized when they were being punished and it was time to repent and return to God. not so, now and days. just like having these priests and keeping them based only on world psychology instead of consulting with God and His Laws. how long are we going to do this?

how long these bishops are going to continue in their pride without repentance? how much more punishment and humiliation are we going to take before we repent?
 
wisdomseeker said:
This is our punishment for not acting according to God’s law.

in the old days this would be impossible for such a thing to happened. the Church always had authority and the Church has everything and autonomy to punish and those who commits sins in the Church. today the world was given the right to just come into the Church and punish Catholics for commiting sins within the Church.

The Church is loosing its autonomy and the world seems to be in charge now. God will give us to the nations to be punished when we become dissobedient.

it happened to Israel and will happen to us also.

today, we all tend to explain every action through human understanding. never God’s doing. the beauty of Israel is that they always recognized when they were being punished and it was time to repent and return to God. not so, now and days. just like having these priests and keeping them based only on world psychology instead of consulting with God and His Laws. how long are we going to do this?

how long these bishops are going to continue in their pride without repentance? how much more punishment and humiliation are we going to take before we repent?
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Amen.
 
Update:
The Vatican has stepped up its criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling the detention of priests “serious and unbelievable”.
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Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said “there are no precedents, not even under the old communist regimes”.
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He claimed the priests were held for nine hours without eating or drinking.
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The Vatican has summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to voice their anger at the incident.
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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10425090.stm

And the Archdiocese of Brussels is considering taking legal action against the government of Belgium:
Fernand Keuleneer, lawyer for the Mechelen-Brussels archdiocese, said he had his “doubts” over whether the authorities’ actions on Thursday were legal.
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“I hope that it is more than a fishing expedition because if that’s what it is then this would not be a legitimate purpose for a search,” he told AFP.
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On top of that is the matter of proportionality “what the (investigating) judge has indication of must be of a rather explosive nature in order to justify” the action, he added.
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A third point of interest, he said, was the fact that television cameras arrived at the scene half an hour before the police, raising questions on whether the raid was carried out with the “necessary levels of discretion and confidentiality.”
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“If we come finally to the conclusion that this was not legitimate and not proportional then we will take legal action, at least I will advise my client to take legal action against the Belgian state,” he concluded.
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google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g3KsUmyjv-YfoQWmb1Aqky_1wAAg
 
cymonk said:
Do you have a link for this article?
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Go to GOOGLE NEWS. Click on the “world” catagory. You will see that there are over 700 links available on this topic. It is BIG news.:sad_yes:

It is also a sad reminder that the Catholic Church has, for all practicle purposes, lost most of its moral authority over the sex scandles.:crying:
 
momor said:
I know nothing about Belgium law but here in the US the police do not raid multiple locations simultaneously, confiscate cell phones, and sequester people for 9 hours unless there is good reason to suspect an attempt to thwart justice. Something caused them to go this route vs supoena of records.
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Actually, the PERCEPTION of mnay people is that the Church HAS, in fact, been attempting to thwart justice. This may not be your perception, or that of some Catholics. But the track record of the Church in the USA, Ireland, and elsewhere does suggest a pattern of evasion. :sad_yes:

So Belgium got fed up and took drastic measures.:mad: They have been the first. They may not be the last. :nope:
 
BVM_1221 said:
It is also a sad reminder that the Catholic Church has, for all practicle purposes, lost most of its moral authority over the sex scandles.
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Maybe for you, but since the Church’s moral authority is from a little higher, it will never be lost.

I will wait and see what is found. This Belgium fiasco best produce fruit fast. Such a bold and unprecedented move by a government does not allow for, “Oops.”
 
momor said:
I know nothing about Belgium law but here in the US the police do not raid multiple locations simultaneously, confiscate cell phones, and sequester people for 9 hours unless there is good reason to suspect an attempt to thwart justice. Something caused them to go this route vs supoena of records.
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Not always true. Headlines are also a lure for some with political aspirations. You may not be aware, but in the U.S. we also have innocent until proven guilty.
 
Another update:
In a sign of sharply rising tensions between the Vatican and Belgium, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday criticized as “surprising and deplorable” a raid on church property last week by Belgian police investigating sex abuse by clerics.
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In an exceedingly rare personal message and rebuke of a sovereign country, the pontiff also stressed the church’s “autonomy” to conduct its own investigations and criticized the “deplorable methods” of Belgian police who last week detained bishops, confiscated files and even drilled into the tombs of at least one cardinal in the Brussels cathedral in a search for documents.
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“On several occasions I have personally reiterated that such serious issues should be attended to by both civil and canon law, with respect for their reciprocal specificity and autonomy,” Benedict said in a statement circulated by the Vatican on Sunday.
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He also expressed his “closeness and solidarity” with André-Joseph Léonard, the archbishop of Belgium and the president of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference, and the Belgian clergy.
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nytimes.com/2010/06/28/world/europe/28vatican.html?src=mv

As someone mentioned earlier, this is huge.

I pray that there is no dirt to be found in the investigation, and that the investigation be found to unwarranted.
 
There was a raid on offices at the courthouse where I live a few years ago because of a corruption investigation. They had tapped phones and apparently decided evidence would be destroyed if they didn’t surprise them. Perhaps it was the same in this situation. It seems ridiculous to hold them without food or drink for so long, however. This probably wouldn’t be legal here, but may be there.

Time will tell if it was necessary or not.
 
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