UNITED KINGDOM
Spectator
Damian Thompson
This picture of Pope Francis apparently talking to retired Belgian cardinal Godfried Danneels at the Synod on the Family, which began this week, is circulating on Twitter and disturbing many Catholics. This is what you need to know:
1. Five years ago, Cardinal Danneels tried to cover up a revolting case of family sex abuse.
As the National Catholic Reporter revealed on August 30, 2010:
Audio recordings leaked to the Belgian media this weekend reveal Belgium’s Cardinal Godfried Danneels urging a sex abuse victim not to make public that his abuser was his uncle Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges, Belgium. The recordings show Danneels pressuring the young man not to force Vangheluwe to resign.
The transcript quoted by the newspaper is chilling:
Cardinal Danneels asks if the nephew wants Vangheluwe to resign and adds: ‘But that is his decision. I can mention it but that’s all. You expect me to do something that I cannot do. I don’t know what more to do. Or perhaps I have to find some other way to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.’
When the nephew stresses that the cardinal must speak to pope and that Vangeluwe must be sanctioned by the church, Cardinal Danneels responds ‘Yes but… You can also ask forgiveness and, well, you can also acknowledge your own guilt.’
Nephew: ‘Whose forgiveness do I have to seek? I am not the one to ask for forgiveness.’
Danneels: ‘He can do that. That’s correct.’
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