September 29, 2024

Pope praises late king for abdicating rather than signing abortion law

WORLD
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

Pope Francis greets people as he arrives at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, to celebrate Mass Sept. 29, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

BRUSSELS (CNS) — Every crisis, including what the Catholic Church can experience when people no longer care about religion or have distanced themselves from the faith, is meant to wake Christians up from their slumber, make them ask questions and to change, Pope Francis told bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers.

Increased secularization means that “we have moved from a Christianity located within a welcoming social framework to a ‘minority’ Christianity, or better, a Christianity of witness,” he said during a meeting with some 2,600 churchworkers in the city’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart Sept. 28.

“The changes in our time and the crisis of faith we are experiencing in the West have impelled us to return to what is essential, namely the Gospel,” he said, and to share the true joy that comes from being close to God and the mercy that he always shows his children.

On his second full day in Belgium, the pope also stopped at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken to pray before the tomb of King Baudouin of Belgium, who abdicated his throne for a day so he did not have to give his assent to a bill Parliament passed in 1990 legalizing abortion.

In the presence of the late king’s nephew, the current King Philippe, and others, the pope praised King Baudouin’s courage to step down to “not sign a murderous law,” according to a statement from the Holy See press office.

The pope urged today’s Belgians to look to their late leader at a time when “criminal laws” are making headway, the press office said, adding that he hoped the late king would someday be considered a candidate for sainthood.

Children cheer as Pope Francis arrives at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels to celebrate Mass Sept. 29, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

The pope began the day by visiting the parish of St. Gilles, which offers free breakfast to those living on the streets and to migrants. Over coffee and croissants, the pope thanked the 10 people gathered around the table for their generosity and charity.

Charity, which is love, “is a fire that warms the heart and there is no woman or man on earth who does not need its warmth,” he said.

Parishioners also gave the pope a small case of their own homebrewed beer. “I imagine it is very good beer,” he told them.

The main event of the morning was his meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, religious, seminarians and pastoral workers at the city’s immense basilica.

Greeted with great enthusiasm, the pope heard testimonies from several people including Yaninka, a young woman who asked how so many young people with vastly different dreams and hopes for the church could be united in the faith, and Mia, a woman who works at a center that welcomes and assists victims of sex abuse.

The pope told Yaninka that “when we share the Gospel the Lord opens our hearts to encounter those who are different from us. It is good, indeed necessary, that there are different dreams and spiritualities among young people.”

“There can be many personal or community paths, yet leading us toward the same goal, to encounter the Lord. There is room for everyone, everyone, everyone in the church and no one should be a mere copy of anyone else,” he said.

It is about “finding harmony within diversity,” he said to great applause.

In his response to Mia, who had asked how they could create a church culture in which everyone feels safe, authority is “well-balanced,” and policies are transparent, the pope said the church must learn from victims.

Members of the church must learn to be “at the service of all without belittling anyone. Indeed, one of the roots of violence stems from the abuse of power when we use the positions we have to crush or manipulate others,” he said.

When he returned to the nunciature, where he was staying during his Sept. 26-29 trip, the pope met two families: a Christian family that had fled from Syria and a Muslim family from Djibouti. As refugees, they had reached Belgium thanks to the help of the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio and its “humanitarian corridors.”