BELGIUM
National Catholic Register
The Belgian archbishop has drawn criticism for his handling as a local bishop of five separate sexual abuse files.
Edward Pentin
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Among the new cardinals to be elevated at Saturday’s consistory will be Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels.
Born in 1947 in Ghent, De Kesel was ordained in 1972 and served as a professor of theology and Christology, as well as formation director in Ghent and episcopal vicar for theological training and pastoral in the diocese. Pope St. John Paul II elevated him to the Belgian episcopate in 2002, appointing him auxiliary bishop in Brussels. Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Bruges in 2010.
But Cardinal-designate De Kesel enters the College of Cardinals with some substantial baggage, primarily in the area of handling clerical sex abuse cases during his time in Bruges.
His current spokesman in Brussels, Jeroen Moens, told the Register Nov. 8 that the archbishop did not “want to comment in detail” on five cases he has been criticized for mishandling. “He only wishes to state that all cases are handled according the policy of the Belgian bishops on the handling of sexual abuse cases and according to the suggestions and advice of experts working in commissions and contact points for sexual abuse cases,” the spokesman said.
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