Sex Abuse Investigation Targets Belgium’s Catholic HQ

This has not been a banner year for the Catholic Church. Investigations into claims of sexual abuse by clergy members have been under way for months in Ireland, Germany, the U.S. and elsewhere, and now Belgian authorities have launched an operation zeroing in on the church’s headquarters in that country as well as a retired clergyman’s home.  —KA

BBC:

A spokesman for the Brussels prosecutors’ office confirmed that the palace of the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels had been sealed off.

Police have also raided the home of retired Archbishop Godfried Danneels.

Belgium is one of several countries in which a stream of abuse claims have shaken the Roman Catholic Church.

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AP / Matthew Busch

Monsignor Giacinto Berloco, apostolic nuncio to Belgium and Luxembourg, talks with police officers Thursday at the Archdiocese of Mechelen, just north of Brussels.