Belgian church admits sexual abuse

THE Belgian Roman Catholic Church yesterday acknowledged widespread sexual abuse over years by its clergy and pleaded for time to set up a system to punish all abusers and provide closure for victims.

The comments were in response to a report last Friday in which hundreds of sex abuse victims revealed harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy throughout the country over the past 50 years.

At a news conference yesterday, Belgium’s Archbishop Andre-Mutien Leonard said “a feeling of anger and powerlessness” had taken hold of the Church.