New charges that Belgian Cardinal Danneels knew of abuse complaints years ago

CWN - April 11, 2012

A Belgian newspaper has reported that Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the retired Archbishop of Brussels, was notified at least 40 times about sexual abuse by priests under his jurisdiction. The cardinal’s lawyer has angrily denied the report.

Citing news leaks from a government investigation of the sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, Het Laatste Nieuws said that Cardinal Danneels has testified that he was unaware of abuse complaints, and was astonished when those complaints surfaced years later.

Fernand Keuleneer, a lawyer for the cardinal, complained that the story in Het Laatste Nieuws was based on “disinformation and manipulation” of the record, and said that he would lodge a complaint about the leaks from a secret government investigation. Keuleneer said that Cardinal Danneels has already answered questions about his knowledge of the abuse complaints, and the latest story is “a bad dish, warmed over.”

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($34,555 to go):
$80,000.00 $45,444.82
43% 57%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Learning from the sick, and from the death of a child 20 hours ago
The case for change in Irish abortion law: based on a framework of falsehood May 17
The Smell of the Sheep May 16
Too many missing funds: Catholic institutions need tighter financial controls May 16
What capitalists should learn from the Pope's critique May 16

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8