Pope Francis responds to critics of comments he made in Belgium about women

Aboard the papal plane, Sep 29, 2024 / 12:00 pm

Aboard the papal plane to Rome on Sunday, Pope Francis responded to criticism of remarks he made about women during a Sept. 28 visit to a Catholic university in Louvain, Belgium, saying it is an “obtuse mind” that intentionally misunderstands his position.

In a meeting with students of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Francis reflected at length on the role of women in the Church, saying: “What characterizes women, that which is truly feminine, is not stipulated by consensus or ideologies, just as dignity itself is ensured not by laws written on paper, but by an original law written on our hearts.”

“Womanhood speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing and life-giving dedication. For this reason, a woman is more important than a man, but it is terrible when a woman wants to be a man: No, she is a woman, and this is ‘heavy’ and important,” he said. 

“Let us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love,” the pontiff continued, “from friendship to the workplace, from studies to the exercise of responsibility in the Church and society, from marriage to motherhood, or from virginity to the service of others and the building up of the kingdom of God.”

In a press release issued just moments after the pope’s speech, UCLouvain criticized Francis’ remarks on women as “conservative” and “deterministic and reductive.”

The university said it “expresses its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women in the Church and in society.”

The university took particular issue with the pontiff’s comment that “woman is a fertile welcome, care, vital devotion,” which the Vatican’s official English version of the speech translated as “fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication.”

“UCLouvain is an inclusive university and committed to the fight against sexist and sexual violence,” the release stated. “It reaffirms its desire for everyone to flourish within it and in society, whatever their origins, gender, or sexual orientation. It calls on the Church to follow the same path, without any form of discrimination.”

During the in-flight press conference returning from Belgium, Italian journalist Annachiara Valle of the magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked for the pope’s response to the university’s criticisms.

Pope Francis called the press release “premade” and “not moral” for having been written “in the moment in which I spoke.”

“I always talk about the dignity of women,” he said. “I said something that I cannot say about men: The Church is woman, she is the bride of Jesus. To masculinize women is not human. Women, I always say, are more important than men, because the Church is the bride of Jesus.”

He said if this seems “conservative” to some people, it is because they do not understand, or “there is an obtuse mind that does not want to hear about this.”

Reiterating his many past statements on the Marian and Petrine theological principles defining the different roles of men and women in the Church, Francis also praised “the mysticism of woman [as] greater than” ordained ministries such as priests or deacons.

Abuse

In the press conference, journalist Andrea Vreede of the Dutch NOS TV asked Pope Francis about abuse and how the Vatican might better respond to the needs and requests of victims. 

Pope Francis pointed out that an institution already exists within the Vatican on this issue, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and recalled that he has many times personally received abuse victims, listening to them and wishing them well.

“I give them strength so that they can go forward,” he said. “We have a responsibility to help the abused and to take care of them. … and to punish the abusers.”

“We must take care of people who have been abused and punish the abusers, because abuse is not a sin of today that perhaps tomorrow will not exist,” the pope said. “It’s a trend; it’s a psychiatric illness, and for this reason, we must offer them treatment and monitor them.”

“You cannot leave an abuser free like that in normal life with responsibility in the parishes, in the schools,” he said.

The pontiff also said he told the Belgian bishops to not be afraid but to keep moving forward after their past failures to properly punish abuse. 

The pope’s comments come on the heels of his decision to laicize former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly encouraged a victim of Vangheluwe’s abuse to remain silent.

The Catholic Church in Belgium is facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier, with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month.

According to a recent report, the number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023.

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The visit by Pope Francis follows a series of scandals that have plagued the Belgian Church, culminating in a devastating report released in 2010 that revealed that more than 500 individuals had come forward with allegations of abuse by priests. The fallout from these revelations has led to significant scrutiny of Church leadership and practices, with many calling for a more transparent approach to handling abuse allegations.

A recent documentary, “Godvergeten” (“Godforsaken”), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting investigations into the Church’s practices.

On his first night in Belgium, Pope Francis spent two hours in individual conversations with 17 victims of sexual abuse by priests.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the participants in the meeting shared with Pope Francis “their stories and their sorrows and expressed their expectations regarding the Church’s commitment against abuse.”

The pope “expressed gratitude for their courage and the feeling of shame for what they suffered as children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted.”

Earlier in the day, Francis had addressed the Catholic Church’s long-standing clerical abuse crisis in Belgium during a meeting with around 300 dignitaries, including King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, at Laeken Castle.

He declared that “the Church should be ashamed” and must seek forgiveness for its failures. Child abuse is “a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly, listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread prevention program throughout the world,” he added.

The pope also addressed the topic of abuse at Mass in Belgium’s national stadium in Brussels on Sunday.

He urged the Belgian bishops to bring the evil of abuse to light and not to cover up abuse. “Let the abuser be judged — whether a laywoman, layman, priest, or bishops, let him be judged,” he said in his homily on Sept. 29.

Abortion 

On the flight, Francis also responded to a question from journalist Valerie Dupont of Radio Télévision Belge about abortion, who said people in Belgium were astonished by his words at the tomb of King Baudouin.

“You know that astonishment is the beginning of philosophy,” the pope quipped in response.

The pontiff had called laws legalizing abortion “murderous” and “criminal” during a visit Sept. 28 to the tomb of the Belgian King Baudouin in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.

King Baudouin chose to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion in 1990. Though the cause for beatification is not yet formally open, the pope announced after Mass on Sept. 29 he would start the beatification process for the king who ruled from 1951 until his death in 1993 at the age of 63.

Dupont said some people saw the pope’s comments at the former king’s tomb as “a political interference in the democratic life of Belgium.”

She also asked about the sainthood cause of the king and “how can we make the right to life and the right of women to have a life without suffering coincide?”

In his response, Pope Francis repeated that the choice of King Baudouin to abdicate for three days in order not to sign a “law of death” was “courageous” and exceptional, adding that the Catholic king was able to do this because he was holy. “The process of beatification will go forward because they gave me proof of this,” he said.

“Women have a right to life, to their life, and to the life of their children. Let’s not forget to say this,” the pontiff continued on the papal plane. “An abortion is a homicide. … it kills a human being. The doctors who carry this out are hitmen … And on this there is no debate.”

“Women have the right to protect life,” he said, adding that contraceptives “are another thing. Do not confuse them. I speak only about abortion and you cannot debate this. I’m sorry but it’s the truth.”

Pope Francis’ comments on abortion come as Belgium discusses whether to extend the country’s legal limit of abortion, which is up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

Notably, however, he did not bring up during his trip a different pro-life issue — euthanasia and assisted suicide — despite Belgium having some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.

Papal trip

Pope Francis’ comments on the flight back to Rome came at the end of a four-day visit to the small European countries of Luxembourg and Belgium, where he greeted royal leaders, prime ministers, professors and students, and Catholics in some of the countries’ historic palaces, cathedrals, and universities.

During a one-day stop in the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg on Sept. 26, the pope met with local leaders, including the Catholic Grand Duke Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, and with government authorities and politicians.

The pontiff also held an audience with Catholics in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, in which he emphasized the historically Catholic country’s need to evangelize Europe in the face of rapidly growing secularization.

He told journalists aboard the papal plane Sept. 29 that he was not very familiar with Luxembourg before visiting but the country “impressed” him as a “balanced society with well measured laws and high culture.”

From there, Pope Francis took a 55-minute flight to neighboring Belgium, where he visited three cities Sept. 26–29 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.

In Belgium, besides official meetings with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, with political leaders, and with Catholic clergy, the pope also made a number of off-program stops.

On Friday, he went to St. Joseph Care Home, a residence for elderly facing economic difficulties run by the Little Sisters of Charity.

On the morning of Sept. 28, he had breakfast with a group of 10 homeless people and migrants at the St. Giles Parish, had a private meeting with local Jesuits, and prayed in front of the tomb of the Catholic Belgian King Baudouin, who temporarily abdicated his throne in 1990 rather than sign a law legalizing abortion.

He also made a surprise visit Saturday evening to a gathering of young people. The event “Hope Happening” was organized during the weekend of the papal visit.

In brief off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis encouraged the over 5,000 teens and young adults in attendance at the youth encounter to pray, to “make noise,” to not be lazy, and to help others.

Editor's note: This story was corrected on Sept. 30, 2024, at 3:57 a.m. ET to say that as of the story's publication there is no formal beatification process open for King Baudouin of the Belgians.