{"id":108779,"date":"2024-09-30T17:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108779"},"modified":"2024-09-30T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T10:00:48","slug":"pope-ends-troubled-belgium-visit-by-doubling-down-on-abortion-and-women-and-praising-abuse-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108779","title":{"rendered":"Pope ends troubled Belgium visit by doubling down on abortion and women and praising abuse victims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) \u2014 Pope Francis wrapped up a troubled visit to Belgium on Sunday by doubling down on his traditional views on women and abortion and demanding that Catholic bishops stop covering up for predator priests \u2014 a scandal that has <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/belgium-pope-abuse-vatican-c3fd9c7841fe17bd874d8ce01ed4ad19\">devastated the church\u2019s credibility around the globe<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Francis revisited the key thorny topics of his trip to Belgium during his in-flight news conference coming home, praising Belgium\u2019s late King Baudouin as a \u201csaint\u201d for having abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than sign legislation legalizing abortion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need a politician who wears pants to do this,\u201d Francis said, using a Spanish expression. \u201cYou need courage,\u201d he said, adding that Baudouin\u2019s beatification process was moving along.<\/p>\n<p>Francis drew criticism from some in Belgium for having prayed at Baudouin\u2019s tomb and for calling the abortion law \u201chomicidal,\u201d given that abortion remains a political issue in Belgium, with new proposals to extend the legal limit on an abortion from 12 to 18 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoctors who do this are \u2014 allow me the word \u2014 hitmen. They are hitmen,\u201d Francis said. \u201cAnd on this you cannot argue. You are killing a human life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the second time in as many weeks that Francis has been asked about his views on abortion during an in-flight news conference. Returning from Asia earlier this month and asked about the upcoming U.S. election, Francis said voters should <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/vatican-pope-trump-harris-election-0e0faef49ff587098f75b265e386bf22\">chose the \u201clesser evil\u201d<\/a><\/span> when picking between a candidate who wants to deport migrants and one who supports abortion rights \u2014 a reference to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<h2>Francis calls for action on church abuse<\/h2>\n<p>Francis used his only Mass in Belgium to publicly demand that priests who abuse young people be punished, and that the church hierarchy stop covering up their crimes. He praised the courage of victims who came forward about their abuse in improvised remarks to a crowd of some 30,000 at Brussels\u2019 King Baudouin stadium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvil must not be hidden. Evil must be brought out into the open,\u201d Francis said to repeated rounds of applause as the crowd took in what he was saying.<\/p>\n<p>Francis deviated from his prepared homily Sunday to respond to the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/belgium-pope-abuse-cc729630469787d87e35d537d54e47e8\">meeting he held with 17 abuse survivors<\/a><\/span> on Friday night, where he heard first-hand of the trauma and suffering they endured and the tone-deaf response of the church when they reported the crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Belgium has had a wretched legacy of abuse and cover-up, none more symbolic of the church\u2019s hypocrisy than the case of Bruges Bishop <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/vatican-pope-abuse-belgium-vangheluwe-3ecb0cac61833eafec73af99aa9158ef\">Roger Vangheluwe<\/a><\/span>. He was allowed to quietly retire in 2010 after he admitted that he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.<\/p>\n<p>Francis only defrocked him this year \u2014 14 years later \u2014 in a move clearly seen as finally dealing with a problem before his arrival in Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>The victims gave Francis a letter with several requests, including establishing a universal church system of reparations since many say the financial settlements they have received from the church don\u2019t even cover the costs of therapy many require.<\/p>\n<p>Francis praised the victims\u2019 courage and acknowledged that the settlements many have received in civil judgements \u2014 which he said he believed were capped at 50,000 euros \u2014 were not enough. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the responsibility to help the abused and take care of them,\u201d he said. \u201cSome need psychological help: (We must) help them with this.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Criticism of Francis and calls for church reform in Belgium<\/h2>\n<p>Francis\u2019 visit to Belgium was always going to be difficult, given the country\u2019s <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/belgium-pope-abuse-vatican-c3fd9c7841fe17bd874d8ce01ed4ad19\">history of clerical sexual abuse<\/a><\/span> and overall secularizing trends which have emptied its majestic cathedrals and churches.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s unclear if he or his entourage expected such sharp public expressions of outrage or the pointed calls for reform from Belgium\u2019s intellectual elite.<\/p>\n<p>The main reason for the trip was to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Leuven\/Louvain Catholic University, the oldest Catholic university in the world and long the Vatican\u2019s academic fiefdom in Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>But the rector of the Dutch-speaking campus told Francis that the abuse scandal had so harmed the church\u2019s moral authority that it would do best to reform if it wants to regain credibility and relevance. Luc Sels suggested that opening up greater roles for women \u2014 including the priesthood \u2014 and being more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Catholics would be a good place to start.<\/p>\n<p>Francis heard a similar call from the French-speaking campus, where students staged a reading of an articulated critique of his landmark environmental encyclical \u201cPraised Be\u201d in which they called for a \u201cparadigm shift\u201d in the way the church views women.<\/p>\n<p>They noted that the encyclical virtually ignores women, cites no female theologians and contributes to women\u2019s \u201cinvisibility\u201d in the church and society. Women have long complained they have a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/vatican-women-lgbtq-pope-e7c9379da16cff3bdb939269102696df\">second-class status in the church<\/a><\/span>, barred from the priesthood and positions of power despite doing the lion\u2019s share of the work educating the young, caring for the sick and passing on the faith.<\/p>\n<p>Francis, an 87-year-old Argentine Jesuit, said he liked what they said. But he repeated his frequent refrain about women being the \u201cfertile\u201d nurturers who complement men, and that regardless \u201cthe church is woman.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>His words drew a remarkable rebuke from the Catholic university that invited him. As soon as he finished speaking, Louvain issued a statement expressing its \u201cincomprehension and disapproval\u201d of his views on women, which it said were \u201cdeterministic and reductive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot agree on his position for sure,\u201d said rector Fran\u00e7oise Smets. \u201cWe are fighting against discrimination for women, and we would like women to have another role in the society and in the church also.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the in-flight news conference, Francis doubled down on women and criticized the Louvain students for what he said was a \u201cpre-made\u201d communique, which was distributed as soon as his remarks finished. <\/p>\n<p>Francis has insisted that women\u2019s focus on ordained ministry was misplaced given his claims that they already are more important than men.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always speak about the dignity of women, and I said something that I can\u2019t say about men: The church is woman,\u201d Francis said. \u201cWomen are more important than men because the church is woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/ap-twir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">collaboration<\/a><\/span> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/belgium-pope-abuse-women-mass-brussels-baudouin-f02c45fb9e902df27fa71fc088ce73a5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) \u2014 Pope Francis wrapped up a troubled visit to Belgium on Sunday by doubling down on his traditional views on women and abortion and demanding &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108779\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}