![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/christianpure.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ewtn2057.jpg?quality=80&ssl=1\")
\n Pope Francis speaks aboard the papal plane on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. \/ Credit: Daniel Ib\u00c3\u00a1\u00c3\u00b1ez\/CNA<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Aboard the papal plane, Sep 29, 2024 \/ 12:00 pm (CNA).<\/p>\n
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 \u201cobtuse mind\u201d that intentionally misunderstands his position.<\/p>\n
\u30a2\u30e9\u30a4\u30ba\u30fb\u30c6\u30ec\u30d3\u30b8\u30e7\u30f3\u3068\u306e a meeting with students<\/a> of the Universit\u00c3\u00a9 Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Francis reflected at length on the role of women in the Church, saying: \u201cWhat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomanhood 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 \u2018heavy\u2019 and important,\u201d \u5f7c\u306f\u3053\u3046\u7b54\u3048\u305f<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cLet us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love,\u201d the pontiff continued, \u201cfrom 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.\u201d<\/p>\n In a press release issued just moments after the pope\u2019s speech, UCLouvain criticized Francis\u2019 remarks on women as \u201cconservative\u201d and \u201cdeterministic and reductive.\u201d<\/p>\n The university said it \u201cexpresses its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women in the Church and in society.\u201d<\/p>\n The university took particular issue with the pontiff\u2019s comment that \u201cwoman is a fertile welcome, care, vital devotion,\u201d which the Vatican\u2019s official English version<\/a> of the speech translated as \u201cfruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUCLouvain is an inclusive university and committed to the fight against sexist and sexual violence,\u201d the release stated. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n During the in-flight press conference returning from Belgium, Italian journalist Annachiara Valle of the magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked for the pope\u2019s response to the university\u2019s criticisms.<\/p>\n Pope Francis called the press release \u201cpremade\u201d and \u201cnot moral\u201d for having been written \u201cin the moment in which I spoke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI always talk about the dignity of women,\u201d he said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n He said if this seems \u201cconservative\u201d to some people, it is because they do not understand, or \u201cthere is an obtuse mind that does not want to hear about this.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cthe mysticism of woman [as] greater than\u201d ordained ministries such as priests or deacons.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI give them strength so that they can go forward,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a responsibility to help the abused and to take care of them. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and to punish the abusers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d the pope said. \u201cIt\u2019s a trend; it\u2019s a psychiatric illness, and for this reason, we must offer them treatment and monitor them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot leave an abuser free like that in normal life with responsibility in the parishes, in the schools,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n The pope\u2019s 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\u2019s abuse to remain silent.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n According to a recent report, the number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A recent documentary, \u201cGodvergeten\u201d (\u201cGodforsaken\u201d), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting investigations into the Church\u2019s practices.<\/p>\n On his first night in Belgium, Pope Francis spent two hours in individual conversations with 17 victims of sexual abuse by priests.<\/p>\n According to the Holy See Press Office, the participants in the meeting shared with Pope Francis \u201ctheir stories and their sorrows and expressed their expectations regarding the Church\u2019s commitment against abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n The pope \u201cexpressed gratitude for their courage and the feeling of shame for what they suffered as children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, Francis had addressed the Catholic Church\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n He declared that \u201cthe Church should be ashamed\u201d and must seek forgiveness for its failures. Child abuse is \u201ca scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly, listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread prevention program throughout the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The pope also addressed the topic of abuse at Mass in Belgium\u2019s national stadium in Brussels<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n He urged the Belgian bishops to bring the evil of abuse to light and not to cover up abuse. \u201cLet the abuser be judged \u2014 whether a laywoman, layman, priest, or bishops, let him be judged,\u201d he said in his homily on Sept. 29.<\/p>\n On the flight, Francis also responded to a question from journalist Valerie Dupont of Radio T\u00c3\u00a9l\u00c3\u00a9vision Belge about abortion, who said people in Belgium were astonished by his words at the tomb of King Baudouin.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know that astonishment is the beginning of philosophy,\u201d the pope quipped in response.<\/p>\n The pontiff had called laws legalizing abortion \u201cmurderous\u201d and \u201ccriminal\u201d during a visit Sept. 28 to the tomb of the Belgian King Baudouin<\/a> in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.<\/p>\n King Baudouin chose to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion in 1990. His cause is currently open and the pope announced after Mass on Sept. 29 he would speed up the beatification process<\/a> for the king who ruled from 1951 until his death in 1993 at the age of 63.<\/p>\n Dupont said some people saw the pope\u2019s comments at the former king\u2019s tomb as \u201ca political interference in the democratic life of Belgium.\u201d<\/p>\n She also asked about the sainthood cause of the king and \u201chow can we make the right to life and the right of women to have a life without suffering coincide?\u201d<\/p>\n In his response, Pope Francis repeated that the choice of King Baudouin<\/a> to abdicate for three days in order not to sign a \u201claw of death\u201d was \u201ccourageous\u201d and exceptional, adding that the Catholic king was able to do this because he was holy. \u201cThe process of beatification will go forward because they gave me proof of this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen have a right to life, to their life, and to the life of their children. Let\u2019s not forget to say this,\u201d the pontiff continued on the papal plane. \u201cAn abortion is a homicide. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it kills a human being. The doctors who carry this out are hitmen \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And on this there is no debate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen have the right to protect life,\u201d he said, adding that contraceptives \u201care another thing. Do not confuse them. I speak only about abortion and you cannot debate this. I\u2019m sorry but it\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Pope Francis\u2019 comments on abortion come as Belgium discusses whether to extend the country\u2019s legal limit of abortion, which is up to the 12th week of pregnancy.<\/p>\n Notably, however, he did not bring up during his trip a different pro-life issue \u2014 euthanasia and assisted suicide \u2014 despite Belgium having some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.<\/p>\n Pope Francis\u2019 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\u2019 historic palaces, cathedrals, and universities.<\/p>\n During a one-day stop in the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg<\/a> on Sept. 26, the pope met with local leaders, including the Catholic Grand Duke Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess Mar\u00c3\u00ada Teresa, and with government authorities and politicians.<\/p>\n The pontiff also held an audience with Catholics in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, in which he emphasized the historically Catholic country\u2019s need to evangelize Europe in the face of rapidly growing secularization.<\/p>\n He told journalists aboard the papal plane Sept. 29 that he was not very familiar with Luxembourg before visiting but the country \u201cimpressed\u201d him as a \u201cbalanced society with well measured laws and high culture.\u201d<\/p>\n From there, Pope Francis took a 55-minute flight to neighboring Belgium, where he visited three cities Sept. 26\u201329 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Belgium, besides official meetings with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde<\/a> of the Belgians, with political leaders<\/a>, and with Catholic clergy<\/a>, the pope also made a number of off-program stops.<\/p>\n On Friday, he went to St. Joseph Care Home, a residence for elderly facing economic difficulties run by the Little Sisters of Charity.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n He also made a surprise visit Saturday evening to a gathering of young people. The event \u201cHope Happening\u201d was organized during the weekend of the papal visit.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cmake noise,\u201d to not be lazy, and to help others.<\/p>\n![\"Pope](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/christianpure.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ewtn2031.jpg?quality=80&ssl=1\")
Abuse<\/h2>\n
\u4e2d\u7d76 <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Papal trip<\/h2>\n