Pope Francis begins four-day visit to Belgium
Pope Francis' four-day visit to Belgium begins on Thursday. After a short stop in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the head of the Catholic Church is due to arrive in Belgium this evening. This will mark the beginning of a busy schedule for the 87-year-old.
The pope will land at Melsbroek military airport at 19.10, where he will be officially welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, prime minister Alexander De Croo and the Belgian bishops. The rectors of KU Leuven and UC Louvain, Luc Sels and Françoise Smets, and other ecclesiastical and civil leaders will also be present.
University visits
The official reason for the Pope's visit to Belgium is the 600th anniversary of the Catholic University of Leuven, which is now split up in the Flemish KU Leuven and the francophone UCLouvain. After a stop at the Royal Palace in Laeken, the Pope will visit the university in Leuven on Friday afternoon. The public will be able to greet him around St Peter's Church and in front of Leuven City Hall.
On Saturday, Pope Francis' day will begin with a public address at the Koekelberg Basilica in Brussels. There he will also meet various church leaders. In the afternoon, the Pope will visit UC Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve. Another public greeting will take place there.
The Pope will end his visit on Sunday with a mass in front of 37,500 people at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. After a farewell ceremony at Melsbroek airbase, he will fly to Rome at around 12.45.
Controversial composer
The visit has sparked fresh outrage over widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Belgium over the years. Pope Francis will spend an hour talking to 15 Belgian victims of sexual abuse, which will be done "in complete discretion".
On Wednesday, it emerged that organisers had decided not to perform a song by composer Paul Schollaert on Sunday - even though it has already been printed in tens of thousands of Mass books - after it emerged that Schollaert was a perpetrator of sexual abuse.
© PHOTO FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP
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