BELGIUM
Expatica
Belgian magistrates have re-launched a high-profile probe into child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, this time seeking to show the Church hierarchy engaged in a cover-up.
Federal police pounced Wednesday on “personal files” held by senior Church figures in the dioceses of Liege, Namur and Tournai after hitting Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Hasselt and Mechelen since Monday.
The seizures are based on testimony from some 200 alleged victims and in 87 judicial complaints.
Federal magistrate and spokeswoman for national prosecutors Lieve Pellens said the purpose of this new “key phase” in a Belgian investigation is different from that of dramatic June 2010 raids on Church headquarters that angered Pope Benedict XVI.
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