Prime minister summons papal nuncio over Pope’s remarks on abortion

Prime minister Alexander De Croo has summoned the papal nuncio to Belgium in response to the Pope’s recent remarks regarding abortion. Following his visit to Belgium, the Pope referred to abortion doctors as “contract killers” and described the country’s abortion law as “murderous”.

De Croo denounced the comments during a session in the Chamber of Representatives on Thursday.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for a foreign head of state to make such statements about democratic decision-making in our country,” he said. “We do not need lessons on how our parliamentarians democratically approve laws. Fortunately, the time when the church dictated laws in our country is long gone.”

De Croo stressed the importance of respecting democratically enacted laws and the physicians who perform their duties within that framework and said he had invited the papal nuncio, the Pope’s ambassador in Belgium, for a discussion. “My message will be very clear: what happened there is unacceptable,” he said.

De Croo also criticised the church for its slow response to allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members. “If there is anywhere that outrage should be directed, it is towards those who have allowed incidents of sexual harassment to occur or who failed to act when they should have.”

This morning, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and UZ Brussel hospital urged the prime minister to hold the nuncio accountable for the Pope’s comments.

^{Prime minister Alexander De Croo © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}