Survivors of sexual abuse in Belgium called on Pope Francis to take stronger action against perpetrators and push for deeper reforms in the Catholic Church, days ahead of his visit to Brussels.
The 87-year-old pontiff - who has described abuse as "demonic" and says he has made prevention a priority - is due to meet survivors and activists on a tour of Belgium and Luxembourg that will also focus on migrants.
Jean Marc Turine, a 78-year-old writer who was abused as a child at a Catholic school in Brussels, said the Church had not done enough to respond to the wider crisis.
"We're damaged. It was criminal. This is something incredibly perverse. It went on and on and on," said Turine, who wrote about his case in a 2002 book called "Reverend Fathers."
"What we want to say to the Pope is that it’s time for him to have a word with us... He’s the boss of the Church, and it’s time for him to tell us something that really matters, not just his excuses, which we don’t need," he told Reuters.
More than 700 complaints and reports of abuse involving the Church have been made in Belgium since 2012, according to a report by the Catholic Church in Belgium in 2022.
Catholic clergy abuse scandals have emerged in countries across the world in recent decades. In July, New Zealand released a public inquiry finding that some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused in state and religious care over the last 70 years.
“Name me one place the Pope goes to without talking about sexual abuse,” 80-year-old former Flemish priest turned activist Rik Deville said.
Church leaders in Belgium said they were committed to addressing abuse and enforcing strict policies against offenders.
“There is zero tolerance,” Geert De Kerpel, spokesperson for the Belgian bishops, said. Offending priests were defrocked, he added. “That happens, and it’s certainly happening again now in Belgium.”
Nearly every country in Europe has uncovered scandals, including Germany, France, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.
Francis created the first high-level papal commission to address clergy abuse, and debuted a global system for Catholics to report suspicions of abuse or cover-ups by bishops.
Survivors groups have asked him to go further, and want him to mandate that all clergy globally must report any suspicions of abuse to local authorities.