Vatican Protests Belgian Sex Abuse Evidence Raid

RedTracker| Updated June 27, 2010

The Vatican regards the actions of Belgian officials as a ‘bold and provocative assertion of state over church’ says the NYTimes.  It’s also ‘indignate’ at what it calls the ‘violation’ of two cardinals’ tombs in Thursday’s raid on church property, one that seized hundreds of documents and files related to the sex abuse scandal in Belgium. 

Speaking Sunday, the Pope stressed the church’s ‘autonomy’ to conduct its own investigations.

The Belgian justice minister fundamentally denied the Pope’s claim, as did the spokesman for the Belgian Bishops’ Conference, who in a statement circulated by the Vatican on Friday said that the raid had been conducted “correctly.”the Belgian justice minister denied that claim, as did the spokesman for the Belgian Bishops’ Conference. 

 “This is most unusual,” said Gerald Fogarty, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Virginia. “Even in the United States, with all the anger in Boston, this did not happen.”

Bishops attending the monthly Belgian Bishops’ Conference were detained for nine hours on Thursday, while the search was conducted. via NYTimes and latest NYTimes update: Pope Lashes Out at Belgium After Raid on Church