About 80 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests or clergy in Belgium have launched a civil legal action aimed at the Holy See and the highest-ranking officers within the Catholic Church in their country, their lawyers announced on Wednesday.
This “group of victims of sexual abuse within the Church cites the Holy See, Belgian bishops and religious heads to appear before the tribunal of first instance in Ghent (west)”, said at a press conference one of these lawyers, Walter Van Steenbrugge.
The Holy See is “the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church” and “incarnation of the papacy”, said Van Steenbrugge.
Pope “called bishops and has authority over them, making them responsible for their errors. He may indeed be held responsible for his own error: he failed to intervene personally and give instructions that allowed abuse to continue and aggravated damages”, he continued.
The court in Ghent is to set a timetable in September for hearings, he added, explaining that the whole procedure could take several years.
After the United States, Ireland and Germany, the Catholic Church in Belgium has been affected by pedophilia scandals.
Complaints have been accumulated against the Church after the bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, confessed and resigned after admitting acts of pedophilia.