Bishop goes into hiding
7s7 Belgique - Le porte-parole de Danneels en desaccord avec le pape (1156549)
Spokesman for Danneels disagrees with the Pope
The spokesman of Cardinal Danneels, Toon Osaer, said Sunday he disagreed with the Pope and there was a structural problem within the Church. Saying that he spoke on his own behalf, Mr. Osaer said the Church was able to pose critical questions.
"I do not agree with the pope when he says there is no structural problem. Each institution, certainly when it has 2000 years of history, must dare to pose critical questions . The institution is simply a way to communicate a message, the message of the Gospel. If it appears that there are aberrations, so I think it can be questioned," said Toon Osaer.
Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that the penance was more effective than structural changes to address abuse of the clergy.
Toon Osaer also deemed inadequate the action taken by the former Bishop of Bruges Roger Vangheluwe who announced Saturday that he was leaving the community of Westvleteren to reflect in all discretion on his future in a place outside the Diocese of Bruges.
"This is a first step, but it is not enough," said Toon Osaer. He believes that Roger Vangheluwe must distance himself from his ecclesiastical office. However, he does not advocate the reduction to the lay state which he said would be a "punishment" detrimental to the efforts of many laymen in the Church.
The former spokesman of Roger Vangheluwe, Mark Van de Voorde, also participated in the discussion of VRT. According to him, he would appeal to the Pope to decide on a possible sanction against the former bishop of Bruges. "It is not for Vangheluwe to decide his fate because it would give him the prerogative to determine his future and I would not give him the opportunity," he said.
The revelations of sexual abuse by Bishop Vangheluwe have been the source of a shock wave caused by the publication of the report of the Adriaenssens Ecclesiastical Commission which reports of hundreds of victims abused by priests across the Belgium, over the last fifty years. (Belga)
Spokesman for Danneels disagrees with the Pope
The spokesman of Cardinal Danneels, Toon Osaer, said Sunday he disagreed with the Pope and there was a structural problem within the Church. Saying that he spoke on his own behalf, Mr. Osaer said the Church was able to pose critical questions.
"I do not agree with the pope when he says there is no structural problem. Each institution, certainly when it has 2000 years of history, must dare to pose critical questions . The institution is simply a way to communicate a message, the message of the Gospel. If it appears that there are aberrations, so I think it can be questioned," said Toon Osaer.
Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that the penance was more effective than structural changes to address abuse of the clergy.
Toon Osaer also deemed inadequate the action taken by the former Bishop of Bruges Roger Vangheluwe who announced Saturday that he was leaving the community of Westvleteren to reflect in all discretion on his future in a place outside the Diocese of Bruges.
"This is a first step, but it is not enough," said Toon Osaer. He believes that Roger Vangheluwe must distance himself from his ecclesiastical office. However, he does not advocate the reduction to the lay state which he said would be a "punishment" detrimental to the efforts of many laymen in the Church.
The former spokesman of Roger Vangheluwe, Mark Van de Voorde, also participated in the discussion of VRT. According to him, he would appeal to the Pope to decide on a possible sanction against the former bishop of Bruges. "It is not for Vangheluwe to decide his fate because it would give him the prerogative to determine his future and I would not give him the opportunity," he said.
The revelations of sexual abuse by Bishop Vangheluwe have been the source of a shock wave caused by the publication of the report of the Adriaenssens Ecclesiastical Commission which reports of hundreds of victims abused by priests across the Belgium, over the last fifty years. (Belga)
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