Bonny's resignation comes weeks before Pope Francis' visit to Belgium, potentially overshadowing the event with the ongoing abuse crisis.

Bishop Bonny, 69, announced his resignation on 25 July, stating that the burden of his responsibilities had become too great.

Despite his request for an auxiliary bishop to assist in managing the Diocese of Antwerp, the Vatican declined, citing concerns over linguistic balance among the bishops.

This rejection, coupled with a lack of support from his fellow bishops, led to Bonny's decision.

Bonny's departure leaves the Belgian Church scrambling to find a replacement before Pope Francis' visit from 26 to 29 September, which includes a planned private meeting with abuse survivors.

Emotional toll

Bonny told Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: "The policy, the media, the negotiations... It's a very big task and I have to combine that with caring for a large diocese like that of Antwerp.

"I no longer have the strength for that total sum. I have to reduce that."

He said that the work had taken an emotional toll.

"It's not just about working hours, but it has an immediate personal impact. It's of a different order than all the other work you do as a bishop" he explained.

"Even my doctor says ‘Stop it, it's destroying you'."

The documentary series "Godvergeten" ("Godforsaken") which aired in 2023, reignited public and political scrutiny on clerical abuse in Belgium. This led to increased pressure on Bonny and heightened public anger, with many Catholics leaving the Church.

The series also prompted inquiries in both the Belgian Federal Parliament and the Flemish Parliament.

Bonny has been a prominent figure in addressing the abuse crisis since 2010.

His efforts include public apologies and a call for systemic changes within the Church.

Acknowledging the Church's past failures, he said he was tired of the "strong words addressed to the Church for 15 years, in the media, saying that we have done nothing".

Despite his resignation, Bonny pledged to continue supporting abuse victims, emphasising that their needs remain a priority.

He stressed the necessity for his successor to be competent and dedicated, urging the bishops' conference to reassess the division of responsibilities.

Sources

The Pillar

Cathobel

Veer Dusauchoit, 62, claims her exclusion from the programme is solely because she is a woman.

"I want to train as a deacon because it interests me and I think that I will then have more tools to do what is expected of me here in the church. And I can't do that because I'm a woman so, yes, I am indeed angry, but I'm also determined" Dusauchoit told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

Dusauchoit has served her parish in Herent, near Leuven, for 30 years. There is no longer a priest there, so she works with other volunteers to lead celebrations of the word of God and funerals.

And so she decided to enrol in a four-year diaconate course.

However, the Belgian woman said her application was rejected once her gender was revealed during a phone call.

Unlawful and legally wrong

Supported by her congregation, Dusauchoit sees this as unlawful gender-based discrimination.

"My community understands my frustration" she told Radio2 in April. "This is unlawful and legally wrong."

Without the commitment of women, "the church in Flanders would simply collapse," Dusauchoit claimed.

The Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels has not commented on the ongoing legal proceedings. However, it reiterated the Church's stance that only men can become deacons.

The diaconate is one of the three ordained functions within the Catholic Church, alongside the priesthood and the episcopate. Currently, only men can receive ordination.

Belgian bishops support including women in the diaconate but emphasise that this decision lies with the universal Church. The matter is expected to be discussed at the Synod on Synodality in the autumn.

The Mechelen civil court has one month to decide on Dusauchoit's case.

Sources

English Katholisch

RTL info

CathNews New Zealand

The proposal was made in a booklet titled "Let's return the Church to the People of God! Putting an end to clericalism," authored by nine Catholics working in healthcare for the Diocese of Liège.

The group argued that Christianity had eliminated the distinction between the sacred and the profane, and that priesthood should be abandoned to create more fraternal relationships between priests and lay people.

"In order to suppress clericalism, the clergy must be suppressed," they said bluntly.

The authors, who include two priests, wrote: "From our point of view, it is a false idea to think of ordaining women and/or married men.

"This idea is based on the need to have a clergy at all costs, even if it means changing the rules of access to the sacred. But this idea will in no way bring new life to the communities and to the Church. We are still in blind clericalism."

"It is necessary to overturn this organisation and these centuries-old practices to recover a community dynamic closer to the spirit of Jesus Christ."

The booklet, seen as emblematic of the unease many Belgian Catholics feel towards the priesthood, decried the clergy sex abuse crisis.

However, the publication was met with backlash from another group of laity in the country.

The lay people argue that priesthood is an essential dimension of the Church, and that eliminating priests would lead only to other problems.

"They want to kill the priesthood"

They also pointed out that, assuming it is possible to behave as a child of God and a brother or sister of human beings without a priest, it could lead to a thirst for power among the laity.

The controversy has also led to a petition called "They want to kill the priesthood," which has been signed by more than 1,700 people.

"Pointing out the clericalism of some priests (described as a generality), the avowed desire of these nine authors is to give the laity the equal mission of dispensing the sacraments," the petition's authors wrote.

Jean de Codt, a Belgian magistrate, said he signed the petition to "point out that priesthood is an essential dimension of the Church and that the priest is indispensable for celebrating the Mass, offering the sacrament of reconciliation and blessing marriages".

Liège bishop Jean-Pierre Delville spoke out against the booklet and its proposal to abolish the clergy in Belgium, "These words are felt to be unjust and unfair by many priests, deacons and lay Christians," he wrote.

"I perceive them as totally false when I think of the amount of dedication that I have seen in the priests and other pastoral actors of our diocese during the almost 10 years of my episcopate," Delville added.

"Without denying the scandal of the abuses committed by some, the pastoral shortcomings of others, and the limits of human nature, I am happy to see how much priests and deacons, religious men and women, lay Christians, women and men, are committed to the service of the Church. I thank them for supporting each other in the mission."

Sources

La Croix International

The Pillar

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has ruled against such blessings.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ made the comment in response to a question about Belgium's Catholic bishops supporting blessings for unions of same-sex couples — in defiance of the Vatican.

"Frankly, the question does not seem decisive to me," Hollerich told L'Osservatore Romano in an interview also published on Vatican News.

The Vatican's doctrine office clarified in March 2021 that the Church does not have the power to bless the unions of same-sex couples.

Nonetheless, Catholic bishops in Belgium published a text for blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in their dioceses. The bishops of Flanders also posted a liturgy for celebrating homosexual unions.

Hollerich pointed to the etymology of the Italian words for "to bless" and "to curse": benedire and maledire.

"If we stay with the etymology of ‘bene-dire,' [‘say good'] do you think God could ever ‘dire-male' [say bad] about two people who love each other?" he asked.

"I would be more interested in discussing other aspects of the problem.

"For example: what is the conspicuous growth of homosexual orientation in society driven by? Or why is the percentage of homosexuals in ecclesial institutions higher than in civil society?"

The cardinal specified that he does not think "there is room for a sacramental marriage between persons of the same sex," because same-sex unions lack the procreative character of marriage.

"But that does not mean that their affective relationship has no value," he added.

"Pope Francis often recalls the need for theology to be able to originate and develop from human experience and not remain the fruit of academic elaboration alone.

"Then, so many of our brothers and sisters tell us that, whatever the origin and cause of their sexual orientation, they certainly did not choose it. They are not ‘bad apples.' They are also fruits of creation."

Hollerich said he has a lot of contact with young people in his ministry. "For young people today, the highest value is non-discrimination."

The cardinal recalled an encounter with a woman in her twenties who said she wanted to leave the Church because it does not welcome homosexual couples.

"I asked her, ‘do you feel discriminated against because you are homosexual?'. She replied, ‘No, no! I am not a lesbian, but my closest friend is. I know her suffering, and I don't intend to be part of those who judge her.' That made me think a lot," Hollerich said.

"Everyone is called. No one is excluded: even the divorced and remarried, even homosexuals, everyone. The Kingdom of God is not an exclusive club. It opens its doors to everyone, without discrimination."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

More than 200 young traditional-minded Belgians (aged 15-42) signed the letter saying certain issues, such as the ordination of women, go way too far and are against Church teaching.

"Calls are coming from all sides to open ordained ministry to women and married people," says one of the concluding lines in the national synthesis, published on July 6.

The document's drafters say that it reflects the views of 2,000 to 4,000 people who participated in the synodal consultations.

However, the young Belgian Catholics argue there is "a discrepancy between some of the demands made in the synthesis and the reality" they are living.

The Belgian synthesis has "saddened" these young people by mentioning the possible ordination of women.

"St John Paul II spoke out on the issue and explained that the Church did not have the power to ordain women, that it would never have it, and that this reality applied to all Catholics at all times," they point out.

"To question these statements is to question the Church's magisterium (and by extension, adherence to dogma), which we believe is extremely dangerous in a world where we already lack clear guidelines," they say.

They say this concept is "far too contemporary and worldly". The group added that this "is found in some comments of the synthesis, while in the Church we should be in a logic of service".

The letter from the young Belgian Catholics comes when, in many countries, very few people in the 25-to 40-year-old category took part in the diocesan phase of the synodal process.

The Vatican was alarmed and sought to correct the situation by launching a digital questionnaire aimed at the new, very connected generations.

"Many of us have been involved in this synod, others regret not having been present enough," write the young Belgian petitioners who present themselves as "the future of the Catholic Church in (their) country".

Sources

La Croix International

Belgium Detail Zero

The Brussels Times