After the crowds of Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singaporethe cold shower of Northern Europe. The trip to Belgium for the 600th anniversary of the University of Louvain – with a hit and run in Luxembourg by the very trusted Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich – is giving Francis more than a little bitterness. The debut was entirely a programme: in his welcome speech at Laeken Palace, the prime minister Alexander De Croo he allowed himself to publicly pull his illustrious guest’s ears attacking the Church keeps its head down on the issue of abuse and forced adoptions.
The prime minister’s attack
De Croo, a member of a party that is part of Emmanuel Macron’s group in Europe, felt the need to point the finger at the Church, saying that “today words are no longer enough. They are concrete measures necessary” and ordering the Pope to listen to the victims since this “it is not only a moral obligation, but it is also a necessary step to regain trust” Why “in order to look to the future again, the Church must come to terms with its past”. A serious diplomatic disgrace towards a visiting sovereign of an independent state and a offensive behavior towards the spiritual head of the most widespread religion in Belgium. The idea that a prime minister, through mere media exhibitionism and political calculation, could utter such a blatant rebuke to the Pope’s face gives an idea of how much the Church’s influence has weakened in a historically very Catholic country. Also because Francesco had prepared this trip without any intention of hiding the dust under the carpet: there was a meeting with 17 victims of pedophile priests and a speech in which he said that the plague of abuse committed by priests is a shame, also declaring himself saddened by the phenomenon of forced adoptions between the 1950s and 1970s against single mothers. Precisely in that period, however, in Belgium those state authorities – today represented by De Croo – allowed the setting up of human zoos during the 1958 Brussels Expo. Questionabletherefore, the pulpit from which morals on the past of the Church reach the Pope.
The “trap” of the University
Could this trip have been avoided? Maybe theelderly Pontiff it was not preserved enough in a stage that proved to be difficult and which, after the successful eleven days between Asia and Oceania, was not all that necessary. In preparing the agenda, we focused more on the so-called “unscheduled” events which, however, no longer make the news, without paying attention to the incidents that awaited the Pontiff. There was not only the prime minister, but even the rector of the University of LouvainLuc Sels – despite the great honor that Francis granted him by coming in person for the anniversary of the foundation of the university – felt the duty to embarrass the guest by bringing up two very hot topics such as thefemale ordination and the rainbow question. “Couldn’t the Church be a more welcoming community if there were an important role for women, including the priesthood?”, hthe rector said, then wondering if “Wouldn’t the Church gain greater morality in our corner of the world” if it “offered greater openness to the LGBTQIA+ community?”. Yesterday the Pope, fresh from the protests of De Croo and Sels, reacted by bringing out his deepest soul “conservative”. He specified to the clergy he met in the basilica of Brussels that “the synodal process must be a return to the Gospel; it must not have any priority ‘fashionable’ reform, but ask ourselves: how can we make the Gospel reach a society that no longer listens to it or has moved away from the faith?”. And among the ‘fashionable’ reforms that some hoped to see implemented with the Synod were precisely the two arguments invoked by rector Sels. In praying at the tombs of the royal house of Belgium, the Pope also had concerns about political power. The Holy See Press Office has made it known that “the Pope stopped in front of the tomb of King Baudouin in silent prayer. Subsequently, in front of the King and those present, he praised his courage when he chose to ‘leave his post as King so as not to sign a murderous law'”. In 1990 the late sovereign suspended himself from the throne for two days so as not to promulgate the law on abortion. The note from the Press Office, quite significant in the aftermath of the echo of the prime minister’s harsh words, continued by reporting that “the Pope urged the Belgians to look to him at this time when criminal laws are taking hold, hoping that his cause for beatification will proceed”.
The connection with John Paul II
Bergoglio is not the first pope to praise the example of Baldwin in an apostolic visit to Belgium: he did so in 1995 John Paul II defining it “the Christian who, in close union with Queen Fabiola, was able to serve his fellow citizens with truly evangelical dedication”.
Precisely on the day of departure for this journey which will end today, a book dedicated to the Polish Saint entitled “The goal is happiness” (published by Ares edited by Marina Olmo), a complete collection of his phrases – mostly unpublished in Italian – for which Francesco wanted to write the preface, maintaining that “Saint John Paul II, despite the time that has passed since his pontificate, continues to be source of inspiration and to attract people to Christ with his lifestyle, with the depth of his teaching and with his ability to be close to people’s lives. In today’s world, so restless and unpredictablewe particularly need his example and his fatherhood.”