BELGIUM: Church sex abuse victims call on other victims to speak out

Record ID: 1500273

  • Title: BELGIUM: Church sex abuse victims call on other victims to speak out
  • Date: 30th June 2010
  • Summary: TEHRAN, IRAN (JANUARY 23, 2009) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF IRAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SAEED JALILI AND IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER MUWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE HALL CAMERAMEN FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY CHIEF SAEED JALILI SAYING: "Our peop
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2010 00:34
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAEU2GR5J0UKONQQZSQP7Q1238N
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Some of the victims of alleged sex abuse by members of Belgium's church came out publicly on Tuesday (June 29) to call for redress after a church commission, which was in charge of investigating their allegations, was raided by police and then disbanded.
    On Thursday (June 24) police seized documents from the offices of the Archbishop of Brussels and Mechelen, the home of former Cardinal Daneels, once a contender for the papal seat, and the Church Commission set up to look into the claims of abuse by members of the church.
    The commission on Monday (June 28) said without the documents it could no longer continue the investigations.
    And on Tuesday, the Flemish Organisation for Human Rights in the Church, 'From Victim to Survivor', appealed to all those who had been abused by priests to overcome their fears and come forward, publicly, to denounce their crimes.
    A Flemish priest, Rik Deville, spoke on behalf of the Flemish Organisation for Human Rights in the Church. He said many victims of abuse had gone to the commission in the hope of being heard anonymously.
    Now the commission can no longer operate he is urging victims to come out of hiding.
    "It is hard for the victims to come before the cameras, face uncovered, which is why it is also an appeal to the victims to consider it," Deville said.
    The organisation is also calling for a new investigative commission to be set up, but this time independently of the church.
    "The only thing we can do is to ask for is to call on the wisdom of western democracies and ask the leaders of this country to set up a parliamentary, public investigative commission," he said.
    He addressed the media with Linda Opdebeeck, a victim of abuse by a priest when she was 13-years-old. She said she confronted her abuser 12 years ago. His response was that he needed her to forgive him.
    But she says she does not have it in her to forgive. What she wants are guarantees that he and others like him will stop abusing children.
    "When you do something that is wrong and you have the authorisation and you are allowed to do it, it's like a child, you are going to continue to do it. So please stop. Stop it. Just say 'No'" she said.
    Opdebeeck also wants the new commission to be independent, saying victims now feel abandoned.
    "The commission collapsed so we are alone again, we have to do this on our own. Justice came in and now we are waiting, what will happen we don't know. Is it coming a new commission, independent commission from the church? I hope so,"she said.
    But another victim of church abuse, Jan Hertogen, says the reason he went to the church commission led by Peter Adriaenssens with the details of his abuse by a priest was precisely because he wanted to remain anonymous.
    Now that the authorities have seized his documents he feels betrayed again: once by the priest and now a second time by the judiciary.
    The 63-year-old sociologist says it took him a very long time to pluck up the courage to speak out. He says he trusted the church commission and that he had passed the details of his alleged abuse in confidence.
    "Thanks to the trust that Peter Adriaenssens and his commission created I was able, for the first time, to tell my story. But now, it's as if I was accused for a second time for what happened then, guilty of not coming before the courts earlier and I even become guilty in the eyes of the abuser," he said.
    Out of the 500 claims of abuse the commission was investigating Adriaenssens said about 100 had clearly stated they wanted the commission to take their case to court.
    But the commission, 8 weeks after receiving the complaint, had not passed any of the details to the authorities saying the majority of plaintiffs did not want their case to be seen by lawyers for the accused.
    The Flemish Organisation for Human Rights in the Church, which was set up in 1992, says it has collected 300 cases of alleged sexual abuse in the church but that none of them ever led to an official complaint.
    But even if alleged victims find the courage to face the publicity of the court and maybe even of their abuser, many still prefer a quiet, almost confessional, form of justice which is why the Flemish Human Rights organisation wants a new, neutral commission, away from church and jury.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register