With a Mass and homily at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, and the recitation of the AngelusPope Francis' trip to Luxembourg and Belgium, which began last Thursday in Luxembourg, concluded with a welcome by the Grand Dukes Henri and Maria Theresa.
Precisely this Saturday, in an act outside of the official program, the Pope went to pray at the tomb of the King BaudouinThe royal crypt of the church of Our Lady of Laeken, in the presence of the current Belgian kings, Philippe and Matilda.
The Holy Father praised there the abdication in 1992 of the then Belgian king for 36 hours, in order not to sign the law on the legalization of abortion. The Pope asked to look to his example at a time when "criminal laws" are gaining ground, and asked the bishops to advance his cause for beatification.
Mass in Brussels, beatification of Anne of Jesus
This Sunday morning, before the closing Holy Mass, the Pope was applauded in the King Baudouin stadium by thousands of people, about forty thousand according to the authorities, carrying flags of many countries, and blessed babies brought to him by families and the security team.
In addition, the Pontiff proceeded to the beatification of the venerable Spanish Discalced Carmelite nun Ana de Jesús (1945-1621), who died in Brussels and was considered the 'right hand' of St. Teresa of Jesus in her foundations.
Anne of Jesus founded the first convent of the Discalced Carmel in Brussels, and remained there as prioress until her death, although she also founded convents in Louvain (1607) and Mons (1608). At the end of her life, she suffered from a degenerative disease that left her totally paralyzed in seven years.
The mission
In his homily, centered on a reflection on three words (openness, communion and witness), the Pope based his meditation on this Sunday's Gospel to affirm that "all of us, with Baptism, have received a mission in the Church, which is a gift we have received, not by our merits, but by the grace of God; we are not privileged. To cooperate with love in the free action of the Holy Spirit we need to carry out this mission with humility, gratitude and joy". "The community of believers is not a circle of the privileged," he stressed.
Abuse: when children are scandalized and abused
Then, around the second word, communion, he referred with extreme harshness to the abuses and the abusers. It should be remembered that Belgium is a country deeply wounded by these crimes, about which the Parliament has announced a national investigation, and the resignation, for example, of Roger Vangheluwe, bishop of Bruges, after admitting to having sexually abused minors. His crimes were time-barred, but the Pope removed him from the clerical state when he was already emeritus, at the age of 87.
The Holy Father said that "the only way of life is to share. Selfishness is scandalous". "Let us think of what happens when little ones are scandalized, beaten, abused, by those who should have taken care of them. Let us think of the wounds of pain and helplessness, especially in the victims, but also in their families and in the whole community, with the mind and with the heart".
Petition to the bishops: evil does not hide itself
"The stories of some of these little ones that I met the day before yesterday are coming back. I listened to them, I felt their suffering for being abused. In the Church there is room for everyone, but we will all be judged, and there is no room for abuse. There is no place for covering up abuse. I ask all of you: do not cover up abuse. I ask the bishops, do not cover up the abuses, we must condemn the abusers, and help them to heal from this disease of abuse". (applause).
"Evil is not hidden, evil has to be discovered, to be known. As some of the abused did, and with courage. Let it be known, and let the abuser be judged (more applause).
Whether layman, laywoman, priest or bishop. The word of God is clear. It says: that the protests of the harvesters and the poor group cannot be ignored." "Abused people are a cry that goes up to heaven. Let us listen to Jesus in the Gospel." "My grandmother used to say: the devil enters through the pockets".
Finally, in relation to the third word, witness, he referred once again to Blessed Anne of Jesus, "a spiritual magnet" in the shadow of a "giant of the spirit," St. Teresa of Jesus. At the Angelus prayer, as usual, he prayed for peace, and prayed to the Virgin Mary, in her invocation of Sedes Sapientiae, the seat of wisdom.
With victims of abuse
Upon his arrival in the Belgian capital on Friday, the 27th, the Pope had referred to the abuse in his address to the authorities, noting that "the Church is holy and sinful." "The Church must be ashamed, ask forgiveness and try to resolve this situation with Christian humility," the Holy Father said. He further stated that "a single abuse is enough to be ashamed of."
Later, throughout the trip, there would be more news about abuse. For example, a hearing at the end of the day for 17 victims of abuse by Belgian priests, at the Nunciature, also unscheduled.
The Vatican Press Office, via Telegram, explained that those present "were able to bring to the Pope their own story and pain and express their expectations regarding the Church's commitment against abuse."
"The Pope was able to listen and get close to their suffering," the note continues, "expressed his gratitude for their courage and the feeling of shame for what they had suffered as children because of the priests to whom they were entrusted, taking note of the requests they made for him to study them."
With the poor and with migrants
The Pope's Saturday had begun with a breakfast with nine disadvantaged people and migrants from the parish of Saint-Gilles, which every morning, at tables set up in the middle of the old nave, offers coffee to homeless people, refugees and the poor of the city center.
In addition, the Pontiff was able to receive at the Nunciature two refugee families from various countries. A Christian from Syria and a Muslim from Djibouti, welcomed by the Community of Sant'Egidio, who arrived in Belgium through the activation of the so-called 'humanitarian corridors'.
Evangelizing in societies far removed from the faith: the Synod
Pope Francis' meeting yesterday, Saturday, with bishops, priests, religious and pastoral agents, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, was one of the main events of the papal trip.
The topic of abuse, which had been present the day before, came up again, but the topic of the Synod also came up in a prominent way, which Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, commented on.
"What is the priority of the Synod that is about to begin? What is the main and most important objective of the reform in the synodal sense of the Church? From Brussels, from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, where he met with bishops, clergy, religious and pastoral agents, Pope Francis outlined an answer by relaunching a question."
"The synodal process," he said, motivated by listening to a testimony, "must be a return to the Gospel; it must not have among its priorities some "fashionable" reform, but must ask itself: how can we bring the Gospel to a society that no longer listens to it or has moved away from the faith? Let us all ask ourselves this question.
"Therefore, they are not 'trendy' reforms," he has written Tornielli. "There are perspectives that end up putting in the background the pressing and fundamental question that Francis raised again: that of the proclamation of the Gospel in secularized societies. Perspectives that end up forgetting the only true purpose of every reform in the Church: the good of souls, the care of God's holy and faithful people."
Europe united in solidarity
The trip had begun last Thursday. Before the country's authorities, the Pontiff, in addition to thanking them for their welcome, underscored the "special geographical situation" of Luxembourg, which "has distinguished itself (in its history) for its commitment to build a Europa united and in solidarity. And, as is very frequent in all his audiences and apostolic trips, he asked the rulers for the commitment to "carry forward the negotiations" to achieve peace.
Women in the Church
The role of the woman in the Church, and specifically in the encyclical Laudato sí' and the climate debates, was an issue that emerged in the Pope's visit to universities in Leuven, especially at the French-speaking Catholic University in 'Louvain-La-Neuve' yesterday afternoon.
At the conclusion of the Mass at the King Baudouin stadium, Pope Francis is scheduled to transfer to the Melsbroek air base for the farewell ceremony, leave for Rome at 12:45 p.m., and land at Rome/Fiumicino international airport at around 3:00 p.m. this Sunday.
The Church celebrates this Sunday, together with the feast of the archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, the Journey World Day of Migrants and Refugees with the motto: "God walks with his people". You can consult here the Message of the Holy Father for this Sunday, and commentaries on the Gospel corresponding.
