Pope Francis was set to meet Belgian victims of sexual abuse by clergymen on Friday as part of a three-day visit to the country – the first by a pontiff in almost 30 years. FRANCE 24 spoke to two of the victims of abuse, only one of whom was granted an audience with the head of the Catholic Church.
The Church’s dark history of sex abuse has cast a shadow over the visit by the 87-year-old Francis, which also includes a meeting with academics at the Catholic university of Leuven in Dutch-speaking Flanders – whose 600th anniversary next year was the official reason for the pontiff’s trip.
