Catholic youth write an open letter to Archbishop Terlinden: “News about perpetrators on the electoral list was once again a sting too much”

Dear Msgr. Terlinden,

‘Perpetrators of abuse on the electoral list of the priest council of Archbishop Terlinden’. We woke up to this newspaper headline yesterday. We sigh. Disappointed and angry. Again.

Abuse in the Church remains current. We also read that last week a settlement took place about an perpetrator who abused an eleven-year-old child for two years half a century ago.

‘We’ are young people, young people who – in one way or another – feel connected to the Catholic Church. Young people with love for the Church and for people within that Church. While a year ago we knew little about the sad, long history of abuse, we are now more aware than ever that it is a matter of extremely painful magnitude and enormous impact on countless lives. Thanks to God, thanks to the courageous witnesses and thanks to the parliamentary investigation.

At the same time, we hear that today there is a lot of focus on prevention, that reports are handled carefully and that victims are listened to. All of this is highly necessary and we applaud that. But that headline from yesterday morning unfortunately tells us that it has still not fully sunk in.

The Church’s response gives the impression that it was a ‘minor’ administrative incident, a clumsy mistake. But for us it feels big, very big. Moreover, it actually shows that those things that the church leadership is regularly accused of are actually – at least partly – correct.

Because how is it possible that all this is not an absolute, double-underlined priority? To keep the problem of abuse in mind in everything, absolutely everything, that the institute does, and thus to show that the suffering of the victims is taken seriously? To prevent victims’ pain from increasing due to carelessness? To deal directly with perpetrators? How can people get hurt over and over again? How is it possible that the Church is still not really focused on this subject?

This is not our church.

Because your explanation shows that communication between services and leaders in the Church is inadequate. But in the Church of tomorrow, the one we dream of, professional, careful and caring communication is absolutely central. Communication between all parties: believers, church leaders and victims of abuse. Also communication with perpetrators, in such a way that they are asked and supported to take responsibility for the far-reaching damage they have caused and so that they can also work on the path to recovery.

In that dreamed Church, it is not always men who speak and take the lead. That seems increasingly unbelievable, because it is not consistent with the diversity that characterizes our society and Church. A more diverse board, for example with more women, would automatically give the Church a more open and caring view.

We think positively. We want to believe that the institute is prepared to be woken up again and again. We also know that there is a great awareness among young people in the Church of our common responsibility, and that there is a full focus on prevention. And that pioneering work is also being done in the field of inclusion and mental health. But we hope that the ‘grown-ups’ above us will not leave us alone in this. That they have the resolve not to make any more mistakes. Because yesterday’s headline was, once again, one sting too many.

Pieter, Femke, Bart, Esther, Barbara, Cédric and Jozefien; young people with a Catholic heart