Brussels, Belgium, Oct 17, 2024 / 14:05 pm
More than 500 Belgians have demanded to be removed from the baptismal registry (“débaptisation”) in reaction to controversial statements by Pope Francis during his apostolic journey to Luxembourg and Belgium about abortion and the role of women in the Church.
After the pope’s visit to both countries in late September, 524 people have signed a declaration published Oct. 16 in Brussels, according to local media.
In their open letter addressed to the apostolic nuncio in Brussels, Franco Coppola; Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels Luc Terlinden, the primate of the Catholic Church in Belgium; and the seven Catholic dioceses in the country, the signers condemned certain comments made by the pope and called for themselves to be removed from the baptismal registry.
While in Belgium, Pope Francis described the partial decriminalization of voluntary abortion in Belgium as a “murderous law.” On the return flight from Brussels to Rome on Sept. 29, he also called doctors who perform abortions “contract killers.”
The pope’s trip to Belgium marked the 600th anniversary of the Catholic University in Leuven. During his visit to the French-speaking branch of the university in Louvain-la-Neuve, he used the terms “fertile welcome, care, vital devotion” to describe women, which the Vatican’s official English version of the speech translated as “fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication.”
The pope’s words were rejected by the university, which criticized them as betraying a “deterministic and reductive attitude.”
Referring to his comments, some Belgian organizations called for people to join a “de-baptism” movement in order to express rejection of the pope’s comments. To date, three weeks later, 524 people have responded.
A historically Catholic country, since the 1950s Belgium has seen a significant decline in the number of its practicing Christians. A European Commission poll in 2021 found that 44% of the country, which has a population of more than 11.5 million, identifies as Catholic, down from 72% of the population in 1981.
A 2023 study by the Catholic university KU Leuven estimates the number of Catholics in Belgium to be slightly higher, at 50% of the population, but with just 9% attending Mass at least once a month.
In their appeal to the Catholic Church authorities on Wednesday for removal from the official baptism registry, the 524 applicants denounced not only the pope’s statements in Belgium but also a “lukewarm reaction to the violence committed by clergymen close to the pope” against children and women. The leaders of this protest also claim there has been a lack of concrete measures to support and compensate these victims.
However, during his public appearances in Belgium, Pope Francis repeatedly commented on allegations of abuse, asked for forgiveness, and instructed the Belgian bishops to take tougher measures. He also met with 15 representatives from the circle of abuse victims for a personal discussion.
Thomas Philipp Reiter is a Belgian-German journalist based in Brussels, specializing in reporting from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. He studied journalism, economics, and political science in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1986 he has been covering European affairs, authoring books on numerous German and Belgian topics. He is also known as a radio and podcast host.