BELGIUM
National Catholic Reporter
Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic News Service | May. 30, 2013
OXFORD, ENGLAND The Belgian Catholic bishops’ conference has welcomed judicial condemnation of a 2010 police raid on the cathedral and residence of Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Mechelen-Brussels.
On Tuesday, Belgium’s Court of Cassation condemned the June 24, 2010, raid, during which documents were seized and the tombs of two cardinals were pried open. The raid occurred during a bishops’ plenary meeting, and the bishops were held all day as police confiscated cellphones, documents and computers.
In its ruling, which is final under Belgian law, the court said the “legally unjustified” raid was ordered by a judge on the basis of a single witness’ testimony. The court ordered the return of all seized material to the church.
“We are satisfied with this definitive judgment,” said Jesuit Fr. Tommy Scholtes, spokesman for the Brussels-based bishops’ conference. “But the raid’s illegality was only one aspect of the many problems we still face, and the church must await further developments.”
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