Belgian Catholic church HQ raided in paedophile probe

[Jeff]

24 June 2010

AFP - Police raided the headquarters of the Belgian Catholic church following accusations of child sex abuse involving Church figures, a spokesman for Brussels prosecutors told AFP on Thursday.

"Within the context of a recent investigation, prosecutors have been informed of accusations denouncing abuse of minors committed by a certain number of Church figures," said the spokesman, Jean-Marc Meilleur.

Police entered the premises of the archdiocese of Brussels-Malines, just north of the Belgian capital, "in order to establish if these accusations are backed up or not," he added, without giving any more details.

The Roman Catholic Church in Belgium was rocked in April when its longest-serving bishop, 73-year-old Roger Vangheluwe, resigned from his Bruges post after admitting sexually abusing a boy for years.

...

http://www.france24.com/en/20100624-bel ... le-probe-0

[norton ash]

What's Belgium famous for? Chocolates and child abuse, and they only invented the chocolates to get to the kids.

-- In Bruges

[nathan28]

Is child abuse just the official policy of the Catholic Church now?

To be less unfair, reported "religion-related" abuse (i.e., by pastors) in the US is highest in the Bible Belt, firmly in the grips of Protestants.

[Col. Quisp]

Proving yet again that Christianity as it is practiced today is in reality Satan worship. IF you believe in either of those things.

[Luther Blissett]

Is child abuse just the official policy of the Catholic Church now?

To be less unfair, reported "religion-related" abuse (i.e., by pastors) in the US is highest in the Bible Belt, firmly in the grips of Protestants.

The abuse that my ex-wife and her older sister were subjected to was done in cahoots with the bethel baptist church (the northern, racist, segregationalist kind). The church helped cover that up too, sending the sister off to a mental hospital 8 hours away. Very much in a catholic style.

[jingofever]

From here:

Police sought evidence to document abuse cases in offices of the Brussels archdiocese and in the home of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who stepped down in January as head of the Belgian church after holding that position since 1979.

A search of ISGP has Godfried Danneels popping up here, under 'Georges de Kerchove':

January 15, 1998, Agence CIP, 'Brussels: the court would like hear cardinal Danneels': "Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Malines[Mechelen]-Brussels, could be summoned as a witness in the affair of abbot Andre Vanderlyn, former vicar of a parish in the capital, arrested in June 1997 and prosecuted for charges of rape committed over twenty years [actually, 30 years] of about ten miners aged 10 to 18 years... Last December 18, after having heard the testimony of monseigneur Paul Lanneau, assistant bishop to cardinal Danneels, Georges de Kerchove, attorney of the civilian party, had asked and received from the court permission to cite the archbishop and his assistant as "civilly responsible" for the acts committed by the priest over whom they had authority." In April 1998, Vanderlyn was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting three children and his bishop was ordered to pay $14,000 to only one victim. The Belgian court ruled that Cardinal Danneels and a local bishop were responsible for the abuse because they were the supervisors of the priest, and were ordered to pay damages totaling $14,000 to one of the victims. In September, in appeal, Danneels was acquitted of his responsibility for the actions of Vanderlyn. In 2004, Cardinal Danneels was featured in The Sprout as being involved and blackmailed over a tape on which the torture and murder of Julie and Melissa could be seen. The issue of the Sprout was taken out of the stores within hours and interestingly, the media did not start a debate over the pictures of the autopsy on Julie and Melissa, which, according to the Sprout, showed that they had been tortured before their death, and did not just die from starvation as claimed by Dutroux.

[Sounder]

Col.Quisp wrote...

Proving yet again that Christianity as it is practiced today is in reality Satan worship. IF you believe in either of those things.

There is no need to believe in order to play with the meaning or substance of the words.

What one does determines what one is 'worshiping' rather than what one says. The more rigid a Christian (or anyone else) is the more he worships Ahriman, the fixed principle, or order without liberty. Establishing resonance patterns such as this attracts influences that demand payments for their support.

Being habituated to having power over the flock is corrosive to the mind and heart and bound to produce disgusting results.

[Twyla LaSarc]

Col.Quisp wrote...


Quote:
Proving yet again that Christianity as it is practiced today is in reality Satan worship. IF you believe in either of those things.

A lot of spiritual warrior-types crossed the black magic/satanist line a long time ago.

Apparently, if you invoke Jesus to give someone cancer and kill them because they aren't christian enough, that's just hunky-dory.

I agree with the Ahriman observation and would add that the constant imagery of the tortured christ is another dead (heh) giveaway of what really is being worshipped. Psychically, they've kept that poor guy-and the rest of us- suspended and tormented for centuries. Not merely a death cult, but one that enjoys blood, pain, and rape because it has the absolute power to act these obsessions out. On one hand, arguably, they can ask god for absolution to drown their conscience, on the other hand, I bet a lot of them don't see anything wrong with it, after all, god gave them dominion and all that; they have power, thus god gave it to them and approves of their acts...

Over the course of years I have met a few people who were fucked up by hard-core dominionist child abuse. Their stories are not unlike cult behavior described by various other survivors. Between 'Christian' daddys who sexually 'break in' their daughters and one pip in particular who killed a girl's pets to prove they had no soul, there really is no need for Satanism.

[Jeff]

Pope deplores Belgian sex raids, stresses autonomy

By NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

VATICAN CITY -- The pope on Sunday called the raids carried out by Belgian police investigating priestly sex abuse "surprising and deplorable" and voiced his support for the Belgian bishops who were held during the searches.

In a message of solidarity to the head of the Belgian bishops' conference, Pope Benedict XVI said justice must take its course but also asserted the right of the Catholic Church to investigate abuse alongside civil law enforcement authorities.

It was first time the pope himself had commented on the June 24 raids, and his message to Monsignor Andre Joseph Leonard capped a daily ratcheting up of the Vatican's criticism. On Saturday, the No. 2 Vatican official said the raids were unprecedented even under communism.

In the raids, police searched the home and former office of former Archbishop Godfried Danneels, taking documents and his personal computer. The raid came as the country's nine bishops were starting their monthly meeting; the men were held for nine hours and - along with diocese staff - had to surrender their cell phones.

Police and prosecutors have not said if Danneels is suspected of abuse himself or simply had records pertaining to allegations against another person.

Separately, police seized the records of an independent panel investigating sexual abuse by priests, some 500 cases in all. The head of the panel called the raid a huge violation of the privacy of people - mostly men now in their 60s and 70s - who have lived with the shame of abuse.

Benedict said he wanted to write to Belgium's bishops "at this sad moment" to express his solidarity "for the surprising and deplorable way in which the searches were conducted." He noted that the monthly meeting of the bishops was to discuss precisely clerical abuse.

...

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1103a ... lgium.html

[slomo]

Pope deplores Belgian sex raids, stresses autonomy

By NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

VATICAN CITY -- The pope on Sunday called the raids carried out by Belgian police investigating priestly sex abuse "surprising and deplorable" and voiced his support for the Belgian bishops who were held during the searches.

In a message of solidarity to the head of the Belgian bishops' conference, Pope Benedict XVI said justice must take its course but also asserted the right of the Catholic Church to investigate abuse alongside civil law enforcement authorities.

It was first time the pope himself had commented on the June 24 raids, and his message to Monsignor Andre Joseph Leonard capped a daily ratcheting up of the Vatican's criticism. On Saturday, the No. 2 Vatican official said the raids were unprecedented even under communism.

In the raids, police searched the home and former office of former Archbishop Godfried Danneels, taking documents and his personal computer. The raid came as the country's nine bishops were starting their monthly meeting; the men were held for nine hours and - along with diocese staff - had to surrender their cell phones.

Police and prosecutors have not said if Danneels is suspected of abuse himself or simply had records pertaining to allegations against another person.

Separately, police seized the records of an independent panel investigating sexual abuse by priests, some 500 cases in all. The head of the panel called the raid a huge violation of the privacy of people - mostly men now in their 60s and 70s - who have lived with the shame of abuse.

Benedict said he wanted to write to Belgium's bishops "at this sad moment" to express his solidarity "for the surprising and deplorable way in which the searches were conducted." He noted that the monthly meeting of the bishops was to discuss precisely clerical abuse.

...

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1103a ... lgium.html

Is there no evil Benedict will not rush to protect?

[hava1]

If there was church involvement in pedo networks, there's a good chance that even very old records are kept in an orderly, archived and accessible way.

[Avalon]

Police sought evidence to document abuse cases in offices of the Brussels archdiocese and in the home of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who stepped down in January as head of the Belgian church after holding that position since 1979.

Godfried Danneels?!

"Godfrey Daniels" was a euphemism for "God dammit!" used by WC Fields.

[Jeff]

Pope reprimands cardinal over sex abuse criticism

June 28th, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI slapped down Cardinal Christoph Schonborn on Monday over comments earlier this year in which he was seen as criticizing a fellow cardinal.

Schonborn – the archbishop of Vienna, Austria, and a former student of the pope – had said that Cardinal Angelo Sodano had blocked an investigation of sexual abuse charges against a former archbishop of Vienna, according to the Catholic News Service. Sodano was the Vatican's secretary of state at the time.

The pope firmly put Schonborn in his place Monday, according to a Vatican statement.

"It must be reiterated that, in the Church, when accusations are made against a cardinal, competency falls exclusively to the pope; other parties may have a consultative function, while always maintaining due respect for persons," the statement said.

Such public chastisements are highly unusual for the Vatican. Schonborn also had objected to a statement Sodano had made in April.

Speaking prior to the pope's Easter Mass address, Sodano - who is now the dean of the College of Cardinals - had said the pontiff maintained the support of Catholics around the world "who do not let themselves be influenced by petty gossip."

Sodano did not specifically mention the sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic Church, but his remarks clearly referred to those who had criticized Catholic leadership, including Pope Benedict himself for not having done more during his years as a top church official.

Schonborn said Sodano had offended victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests by using the term "petty gossip."

The Vatican, in its statement Monday, said, "The word 'chiacchiericcio' (gossip) was erroneously interpreted as disrespectful to the victims of sexual abuse."

It noted the word "was taken literally from the pontifical homily of Palm Sunday and referred to the 'courage that does not let itself be intimidated by the gossip of prevalent opinions.'"

...

The Vatican's statement drew criticism from David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests "The pope should be encouraging, not forbidding, more open conversation about cover ups of clergy sex crimes by bishops," he said in a written statement. "Frankly, the church desperately needs it. Kids are safer when honest dialogue about misdeeds is encouraged, not forbidden."

He added, "With his words, Benedict professes concern for victims. But by his actions, Benedict shows concern for his colleagues."

...

[semper occultus]

yeah but Benny's got a point though..since when did the Belgian police ever arrest any paedophiles in positions of authority ? When was the policy change & was he copied in on the memo ?

[Jeff]

Belgian child sex abuse police probe death threats

Sunday, 4 July 2010

Police investigating claims of child abuse by Belgian clergy have told the BBC they are probing death threats against witnesses and magistrates.

Last month police raided a meeting of Belgium's Catholic bishops as part of their investigation, seizing computers and documents.

They even searched the tomb of at least one cardinal, prompting an angry response from the Vatican.

The country is one of several where the Church has been shaken by abuse claims.

The investigation into child abuse allegations in Belgium's Catholic Church has already prompted extraordinary scenes, says the BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels.

But now the investigation has taken an unexpected turn.

Officials say that police are also looking into threats to the lives of some witnesses and magistrates connected to the case.

Jean Marc Meillure, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office, confirmed that an investigation was under way.

"There are some threats against certain people around the case, and the prosecutors office is investigating that," he told the BBC.

He said the threats had been made against people who gave the authorities information or made a complaint, or against some magistrates.
Tomb raiders

The raid last month on the offices of a Church commission investigating the abuse claims led to some of the country's leading clergy being detained for nine hours.

Police took away their mobile telephones to prevent them communicating with their staff or with the Vatican.

They were also reported to have drilled into the tomb of at a former Belgian cardinal at the cathedral in Mechelen during what seems to have been a frenetic search for possible incriminating documents.

Officers also raided the nearby home of the recently retired archbishop of Belgium, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, seizing paperwork and his computer.

...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/10501668.stm