VATICAN CITY. Despite battling a mild flu, Pope Francis is set to embark on a four-day visit to Luxembourg and Belgium, starting this Thursday. The visit will highlight key issues such as the treatment of migrants and the abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. The Vatican confirmed that the 87-year-old pontiff, after canceling several meetings earlier in the week due to flu-like symptoms, will proceed with the scheduled trip.
From September 26 to 29, the visit is a rare European tour for the pope, who generally opts to visit regions with smaller Catholic populations or where previous pontiffs have not traveled. This journey comes just two weeks after Pope Francis returned from an exhausting 12-day trip across Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Meeting Abuse Survivors in Belgium
Belgium has been among the countries grappling with widespread reports of clerical sexual abuse. In March of this year, Pope Francis removed a former Belgian bishop from the priesthood after he admitted to sexually abusing two of his nephews. Since 2012, more than 700 complaints of abuse involving the Catholic Church have been filed in Belgium, according to official reports.
As part of his visit, the pope is expected to meet privately with 15 survivors of clerical abuse, according to Belgium’s ambassador to the Vatican, Patrick Renault.
Celebrating 600 Years of Belgian Universities
The primary purpose of Pope Francis’ visit is to commemorate the 600th anniversary of two prominent Belgian Catholic universities. One of these is KU Leuven, where the pope will focus his attention on the pressing global issue of migration.
Luc Sels, the rector of KU Leuven, noted that Pope Francis will meet with some of the 160 refugees currently studying at the university. “It will be an intimate moment where the pope can exchange views with people from all over the world,” said Sels. These meetings will include one-on-one sessions where the pontiff will listen to personal testimonies from refugees and migrants.
Migration Crisis in Europe
Europe has been dealing with unprecedented migration levels in recent years, and Belgium is no exception. In 2023, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles reported that Belgium is facing a “severe reception crisis,” with the nation offering temporary protection to approximately 60,000 individuals. The pope’s focus on migration during his trip is expected to shed light on these issues, particularly in light of Belgium’s ongoing struggles to process refugee claims.
Declining Catholic Participation
Despite its Catholic heritage, Belgium has seen a sharp decline in church attendance. While the Vatican claims that about 72% of Belgium’s 11.6 million people identify as Catholic, a 2018 Pew Research study found that only 11% of Belgians attend religious services at least once a month.
Pope Francis’ visit is significant in this context. Geert De Cubber, a Catholic deacon in Ghent, compared this trip to the pope’s recent visit to Indonesia, where Christians are a small minority. “We should be humbled because what we see in his visits is… he mainly goes to the periphery,” said De Cubber. “Belgium was once maybe one of the centres of the Catholic Church in Europe, but today it’s the periphery.”
Health and Schedule
Pope Francis will begin his trip in Luxembourg on Thursday before heading to Belgium’s capital, Brussels, later that evening. Despite bouts of ill health, the pope showed resilience during his recent trip to Asia and Oceania and is expected to return to Rome on Sunday afternoon.
As Belgium and Luxembourg prepare for the visit, the focus remains on how the pope’s message of inclusivity, compassion for the marginalized, and accountability within the Church will resonate in these changing times.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
