BELGIUM
Catholic Herald (UK)
Archbishop Léonard submitted his letter of resignation on May 6 upon reaching the age of 75
Pope Francis swiftly accepted the resignation of Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium.
As required by canon law, Archbishop Léonard submitted his letter of resignation on May 6 upon reaching the age of 75. The Belgian archdiocese announced on Monday that the Pope had accepted it, despite Archbishop Léonard only being in the position since 2010.
A Belgian court recently ruled that Archbishop Léonard was guilty of misconduct in failing to take action in a sex abuse case, which dated back to when he was Bishop of Namur, from 1991 to 2010. The court ordered him to pay €10,000 to a former Catholic seminarian, Joel Devillet, who was sexually abused as a choirboy in Aubange by a Catholic abbot, Fr Gilbert Hubermont.
The Catholic Church in Belgium has been dogged by abuse allegations for the past five years. In a 2010 pastoral letter, the bishops’ conference asked forgiveness from victims, after Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges resigned following an admission that he had molested his nephew.
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