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  Belgian Cardinal Offered to Hide Bishop’s Sex Abuse Charges for a Year

Lez Get Real
August 29 2010

http://lezgetreal.com/2010/08/belgian-cardinal-offered-to-hide-bishops-sex-abuse-charges-for-a-year/

As priest and bishop, Roger Vangheluwe abused a victim who finally came forward close to the end of Vangheluwe’s career. Rather than reporting it to the authorities, or making it public, Cardinal Godfried Danneels made a deal with the bishop. Cardinal Danneels would keep the allegations secret until after Bishop Vangheluwe retired a year later. In the end, the bishop retired two weeks later and expressed sorrow for abusing his victim for years.

The revelations come as word of a secretly taped meeting between the Cardinal, the Bishop and the victim has surfaced.

In January, Danneels retired as head of the Belgian Catholic Church, but police continued their inquiry including interviewing him as a potential witness in the case. They also raided his home and office as well as searched the Cathedral. These actions were decried by Pope Benedict at the time, but one has to wonder if he is going to decry the decision by Cardinal Danneels to circumvent the law and protect a child molester.

 
 

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