Pope Francis set foot on Belgian soil on Thursday evening, welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
On Friday, the sovereign pontiff visited the Château de Laeken and Leuven on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Alma Mater. He also met with victims of sexual violence.
This Saturday at the Basilica of Koekelberg, Pope Francis will hold talks with ecclesiastical leaders of the Catholic Church of Belgium.
He will then visit UCLouvain at the Aula Magna, with a speech in front of the audience gathered in the theatre’s car park.
Pope meets victims of sexual violence
The Pope met with victims of sexual violence in the Church on Friday evening. He apologized to them on behalf of the religious institution.
The Pope, 15 victims, two psychologists and two translators were present at the meeting, which took place at the Apostolic Nunciature in Brussels.
The interview lasted two hours and fifteen minutes, instead of one hour as originally planned. It was an “open, difficult and also emotional conversation,” according to one participant after the meeting.
Koen Van Sumere is one of fifteen victims of sexual assault within the Church who will meet Pope Francis during his visit to Belgium.
He expects the Church leader to ask the Belgian bishops to create a reparation fund for victims of sexual violence within the Church.
Mr Van Sumere, who has prepared three questions, hopes that the Pope will take immediate action after the meeting and urge the Belgian bishops to pay a monthly allowance of 400 euros to the victims.
This would be a kind of survivor’s pension for therapy, among other things, paid for by the Church.
“There are many people who are not working because of what happened to them,” he said.
“Since there is no government yet, it will take at least another year, but the bishops can already do this in the meantime, as a sign of goodwill.”
Koen Van Sumere found the speech delivered Friday morning at the Castle of Laeken by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo “phenomenal”.
“I find it incredible that he forced the Pope to adapt his speech,” he said, referring to the unprepared section on sexual violence in the pontiff’s speech.
“The most striking thing is that the Prime Minister said that we should not just talk, but that actions must follow.”
Mr Van Sumere said he did not need an apology from the Pope, as it should come from another party. “But for each victim it is a different story,” he said.
During the interview, each victim will have less than three minutes, according to Mr. Van Sumere. The meeting with the head of the Catholic Church is expected to last one hour.
