Supporters say the pope’s meeting with survivors of violence does not go far enough

BRUSSELS – After Pope Francis met on Friday with a group of survivors of clerical sexual abuse in Belgium, one advocacy organization said such gestures are not enough but the Church must pursue real reforms.

On Friday evening, after being rebuked by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo over the clerical abuse scandals that had unfolded in the country earlier that morning, the pope met with a group of 17 abuse survivors at the Vatican nunciature in Brussels.

A Vatican statement on Sept. 27 said the meeting lasted more than two hours and allowed victims “to present their stories and pain to the pope, and to express their expectations for the Church’s commitment to combat abuse.”

Pope Francis, the statement said, was able to “listen to their suffering and draw close to them” and thanked them for their courage to tell their stories.

He also expressed his own “sense of shame” over what they had endured as children at the hands of the priests entrusted to them, and took notes on their requests “to study them.”

Pope Francis met with victims after holding private meetings with De Croo, King Philippe of Belgium and national authorities, as well as with university professors as part of his September 26-29 visit to Luxembourg and Belgium, which has been hit hard by abuses and cover-up scandals .

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In light of the pope’s meeting with victims of violence, the victims’ support group Bishop Accountability issued a statement on Friday saying that the meeting alone would not be enough to compensate the harm caused to the victims.

Calling the meeting mere “damage control,” the organization noted that Francis has met with victims several times, in Portugal in 2023, in Canada in 2022, in Ireland in 2018, in Chile in 2018 and USA in 2015

The organization said it “follows the same PR pattern each time: meeting with victims, expressing shame and promising change.”

Friday’s meeting with surviving Belgians “will have few significant consequences,” it said, noting that while it might comfort the 17 people who attended, it “will not change the systemic corruption in the Belgian church and not a single child in Belgium will be safer because of it.” “

The pope’s meetings with survivors are nothing more than PR, not reform, the organization said, stating that “at this stage of his pontificate the tactics are tired. An apology without effective reforms is worse than meaningless. It’s disrespectful.”

They condemned Francis’ decision not to meet with survivors of violence in East Timor earlier this month and advocated a stricter implementation of the church’s “zero tolerance” policy on clergy abuse, as well as a review of his 2019 legislation on bishops’ accountability, Vos Estis Lux Mundi.

The group also urged the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to publish its archive on perpetrators of violence to ensure greater transparency.

Earlier on Friday, De Croo condemned the actions of the church hierarchy over abuse scandals, saying: “If something goes wrong, a cover-up cannot be accepted. This harms the valuable work done by everyone. And that is why today words are not enough. Concrete steps are needed.”

To move forward, he said, the church must put victims first and “explain its past.”

Pope Francis in his own speech acknowledged the impact of the clergy abuse scandals, calling them a source of “shame” for the church and a “crime” that must be ended.

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