Pope Francis also said that the Church must apologize for the cases of pedophilia

2024-09-27 12:45:08

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Pope Francis affirmed that the Catholic Church must be “forgiven”. “cause” of sexual abuse of young people, in a speech before political and social representatives in Belgium.

“The Church must be ashamed and ask for forgiveness, and try to solve this situation with Christian humility, and do everything possible so that it does not happen again,” the Pope said at the meeting this Friday , in which Belgian King Philippe participated.

“I think about the extraordinary cases of the abuse of young children, an epidemic that the Church faces with determination and firmness, listening and following the wounded and implementation of a comprehensive prevention program worldwide”he said.

“This is a shame that we all have to think about now, apologize for it, and solve the problem,” he said.

In his speech, the Argentine Pope referred to a great scandal that shook the Belgian church last year, related to the abuse of children and forced children from single mothers.

“I am saddened by the phenomenon of ‘forced adoption’, also here in Belgium between the 50s and 70s of the last century,” he said.

The Belgian website HLN has reported that about 30,000 children were taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.

The Belgian bishops apologized in 2023 and commissioned an independent investigation into the cases.

“In those thorny stories, the bitter fruit of a crime and a sin is mixed with what is unfortunately the result of a mentality that spreads at all levels of society,” the Pope said.

“Often, families and other social institutions, including the Church, think that to get rid of it the walls of stigma, which unfortunately sometimes affect those who are single mothers“It will be good for both, mother and child, if we get the last ones,” he said.

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