Belgian PM blasts Pope Francis for Catholic Church’s sex abuse cover-up legacy

Pope Francis meets King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Belgium’s prime minister has blasted the Pope for the Catholic Church’s horrific legacy of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups, in a blistering welcome at the start of Francis’s visit.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo demanded “concrete steps” to come clean with the past and put victims’ interests ahead of those of the institution.