Belgian government defends raid of bishops’ meeting
CWN - June 29, 2010
Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere defended an aggressive police raid of a bishops’ meeting during an investigation of the clerical abuse scandal. The Vatican and the Belgian bishops have angrily protested two aspects of the search: the violation of the tombs of two deceased archbishops and the seizure of confidential files from the Church-authorized investigating commission.
“It’s good to [keep in mind] very important principles of the state of law. [There are] very elementary principles of having a separation of powers and accepting that the judiciary has to do its work,” said Mr. Vanackere. “That’s crucial for every democratic state.”
Godelieve Halsberghe, a former head of the Belgian bishops’ investigating commission, told a Flemish newspaper that she may have prompted the raid. After receiving a threatening telephone call, she told police that the Belgian Church officials might be hiding abuse files from investigators.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Belgium hits back at Vatican over paedophilia raids (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
- Warning About Church’s Abuse Documents Led Belgian Police to Raid Its Offices (New York Times)
- Church Raid in Belgium Raises Dark Questions (New York Times)
- Pope joins angry criticism of Belgian police raid (CWN, 6/28)
- Belgium: 400 abuse allegations in recent weeks (CWN, 6/4)
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