Begin forwarded message:
> From: dasg...@aol.com > Date: July 7, 2010 5:13:44 PM PDT > To: ramille...@aol.com > Cc: ema...@aol.com, j...@aol.com, jim6...@cwnet.com, l...@legitgov.org > Subject: Catholic Archdiocese in Brussels Linked to High-Level Belgian > Pedophile Ring > > Any relationship between the Cardinal and W. C. Fields' "Godfrey Daniels" is > purely coincidental > > Belgian Cardinal Linked to Convicted Sex Killer > > By CHARLES JOHNSON > http://trueslant.com/charlesjohnson/2010/07/06/report-belgian-cardinal-linked-to-convicted-sex-killer/ > The Catholic Church child abuse scandal in Belgium just got a whole lot > worse. Belgian newspaper Het Laaste Niews is reporting that when authorities > searched the home of the former archbishop of Brussels, Cardinal Godfried > Danneels, they discovered a hidden cache of documents and photographs on > notorious child sex killer Marc Dutroux — documents that Danneels was not > supposed to have. Here’s a Google translation of one of their reports: > http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hln.be%2Fhln%2Fnl%2F6916%2FKindermisbruik-in-katholieke-kerk%2Farticle%2Fdetail%2F1129307%2F2010%2F07%2F06%2FGerecht-doet-bizarre-vondst-bij-aartsbisschop.dhtml&sl=nl&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 > > The Brussels court at the searches in the archbishop’s palace in Mechelen > found documents which are wondering how it ended up. That requires the latest > news. > > These include photographs of the excavations and the children’s corpses of > Julie and Melissa, and documents about pedophilia that was only intended for > the court. Cardinal Danneels may be explained by the detectives. > > Not intended for Church > > The confidential, court documents in the last days found among the many > documents that were seized June 24 in Mechelen archiepiscopal palace. These > reports between magistrates, which was only intended to justice, especially > for the Church. It’s a mystery what the researchers that documents in the > basement of the archbishop did. > > The same goes for hundreds of photos from the Dutroux investigation and large > parts of the court record of the victims Julie and Melissa. The investigators > were in the archbishop’s palace, dozens of photographs from the excavations > of their cells, to allow autopsies, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. > > The court also wants clarification about the correspondence that was burned > and about secret dossiers on pedophilia in the Church. > > > Belgian sex ring 'ignored' > > BBC, 22 January, 2002 > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1774436.stm > > > A Belgian television station has broadcast a clandestine interview with the > paedophile murder suspect, Marc Dutroux, who is awaiting trial on charges of > abducting, raping and killing four girls. > Dutroux was arrested in 1996 in a case which rocked the nation. Two of the > children who he abducted starved to death in makeshift dungeons under his > house. > > In the interview with the Flemish-language station VTM Dutroux admitted > locking up the girls but did not acknowledge responsibility for their deaths. > > He also said he had been part of a wider paedophile network but said the > justice system did not want to pursue it. > > "There is a well-grounded [paedophile] ring," he said. "I maintained regular > contact with people in this ring. However, the law does not want to > investigate this lead." > > Dutroux has already served time for a paedophile conviction. He was set free > in 1992 after serving three years of a 13-year sentence for raping five girls. > > Admission > > Dutroux freely admitted the abduction of teenagers An Marchal and Eefje > Lambrecks, and eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, although it > was not clear whether he was aware that he was speaking to a journalist. > > "I kept Julie and Melissa captive at my place, so I'm not innocent. I kept An > and Eefje captive at my place, so I'm not innocent. I'm absolutely guilty," > Dutroux said. > > But he has always maintained that he did not murder the girls. He accuses his > second wife, Michelle Martin, of failing to feed Julie and Melissa. > > Dutroux's trial is due to start next year. It has been delayed several times > as a result of the extensive investigation into the girls' deaths. > > This has included forensic tests on some 6,000 hair samples taken from > Dutroux's basement to try and establish whether the girls had any other > visitors. > > Conspiracy theories > > But the BBC's Shirin Wheeler in Brussels says the interview is bound to fuel > theories that the delay in bringing Dutroux to trial is because of a cover-up > by members of the Belgian establishment allegedly linked to paedophile > activities. > > The parents of two of the young victims - An Marchal and Melissa Russo - say > they are deeply unhappy Dutroux has been interviewed. > > The reporter who interviewed him was smuggled into his cell by a visiting > senator, Jean-Marie Dedecker. > > Liberal Senator Dedecker is now facing disciplinary action by his party for > allowing the journalist to pass himself off as his driver. > > > > The Fall of the Belgian Church > > "Cardinal Danneels’s close friend and collaborator, Mgr Roger Vangheluwe, the > Bishop of Bruges, had been a practicing pedophile before and during his > career as a bishop" > > by Alexandra Colen, member of the Belgian House of Representatives > Brussels Journal, June 24, 2010 > http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4471 > > In Belgium, today, police searched the residence of the Archbishop of > Mechelen-Brussels and the crypt of the Archbishop’s cathedral in Mechelen. > They were looking for evidence of cover-ups in the ongoing investigation into > widespread pedophilia practices within the Belgian church in the decades > during which Cardinal Godfried Danneels was Archbishop. Danneels retired in > January of this year. > > Police also confiscated 450 files containing reports of pedophile offences by > members of the clergy, that had been submitted to an investigation committee > which was established within the church to deal with pedophilia cases. > > Since the revelation in April that Cardinal Danneels’s close friend and > collaborator, Mgr Roger Vangheluwe, the Bishop of Bruges, had been a > practicing pedophile throughout, and even before, his career as a bishop, > victims have gained confidence that they will be taken seriously, and > complaints have been pouring in, both to the courts and to the extra-judicial > investigation committee of the archdiocese. The new archbishop Mgr. > André-Joseph Léonard, has urged victims to take their case to the courts. > > His predecessor, the liberal Cardinal Danneels, who was very popular with the > press in Belgium and abroad, was Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate > of Belgium from 1979 until 2010. The sympathy for pedophile attitudes and > arguments among the Belgian bishops during this period was no secret, > especially since 1997 when the fierce controversy about the catechism > textbook Roeach made the headlines. The editors of Roeach were Prof. Jef > Bulckens of the Catholic University of Leuven and Prof. Frans Lefevre of the > Seminary of Bruges. > > The textbook contained a drawing which showed a naked baby girl saying: > “Stroking my pussy makes me feel groovy,” “I like to take my knickers off > with friends,” “I want to be in the room when mum and dad have sex.” The > drawing also shows a naked little boy and girl that are “playing doctor” and > the little boy says: “Look, my willy is big.” > > > > The drawing also showed three pairs of parents. Those with the “correct” > attitude reply: “Yes, feeling and stroking those little places is good fun.” > This “catechism textbook” was used in the catechism lessons in the catholic > schools, until one day I discovered it among the schoolbooks of my eldest > daughter, then 13 years old. On 3 September 1997 I wrote a letter to Cardinal > Danneels, saying: > > “When I see this drawing and its message, I get the distinct impression that > this catechism textbook is designed intentionally to make 13 and 14 year olds > believe that toddlers enjoy genital stimulation. In this way one breeds > pedophiles that sincerely believe that children actually think that what they > are doing to them is ‘groovy’, while the opposite is the case.” > > I told Cardinal Danneels that, although I was a member of Parliament for the > Flemish-secessionist party Vlaams Blok, I was addressing him as a Catholic > parent “who wishes to remain faithful to the papal authority and also wishes > to educate her children this way.” I insisted that he forbid the use of this > book in the catechism lessons: “This is why I insist – yes, the days of > meekly asking are over – that you forbid the use of this ‘catechism book’ in > our children’s classrooms.” > > Today this case, that dates from 12 years ago, assumes a new and ominous > significance. Especially now that I know that Mgr Roger Vangheluwe, the > pedophile child molesting Bishop of Bruges, was the supervising bishop of > both institutions – the Catholic University of Leuven and the Seminary of > Bruges – whence came the editors in chief of this perverted “catechism” > textbook. > > Monsignor Vangheluwe not only entertained pedophile ideas, but also practiced > them on his 11-year old nephew. Hundreds of children who were not raped > physically were molested spiritually during the catechism lessons. > > After I started my campaign against the Roeach textbook, many parents > contacted me to voice their concerns. Stories of other practices in the > Catholic education system poured in. There were schools where children were > taught to put condoms over artificial penises and where they had to watch > videos showing techniques of masturbation and copulation. > > Because Cardinal Danneels refused to respond to requests to put an end to > these practices, I and hundreds of concerned parents gathered in front of his > palace on 15 October 1997. We carried placards with the text “Respect for > parents and children,” and we said the rosary. Cardinal Danneels refused to > receive a delegation of the demonstrators. “I shall not be pressured,” he > said in the libertine magazine Humo on 21 October 1997. The Archbishop’s door > remained closed when we demonstrated again on 10 December 1997. > > When we demonstrated at the palace of the Bishop of Antwerp on 19 November > 1997, Mgr Paul Van den Berghe received a delegation of mothers that included > a local councilor from the Christian-Democrat party and myself. Mgr Van den > Berghe, who was the Episcopal supervisor for education, listened to the > mothers, wept and promised to investigate the practices in the sex education > and catechism lessons. He also announced this intention in a declaration to > the press. > > He must have been reprimanded by his colleagues, because on 24 November, > after a meeting of the Bishops’ Conference, in a press release to the press > agency Belga, the Bishop of Antwerp announced that, in spite of his promise, > there would be no investigation. Today we know that one of the colleagues > present at the Conference was the child molester Vangheluwe, which makes that > incident, too, very unsavory indeed. > > On 18 February 1998 we were at Cardinal Danneels’s door again, myself and a > group of parents. Again the door remained closed. So on 18 March 1998 a group > of two hundred parents went to the Papal Nuncio, the ambassador of the > Vatican, in Brussels. But the Nuncio, who was a friend of Danneels, also > refused to meet us. He had, however, alerted the police, who had several > water cannons at the ready just around the corner. > > Meanwhile Danneels’s friends in the press started a campaign against me. > “Colen continues to pester the bishops,” was the headline in Gazet van > Antwerpen. One evening Toon Osaer, Danneels’s spokesman at the time, phoned > me to tell me that as a Catholic I had to “be obedient” to the bishops. In > Humo Danneels insinuated that I was “conducting my election campaign.” > > On 5 January 1998 the daily newspaper Het Volk interviewed Patrick > Vanhaelemeesch, a catechism teacher in the diocese of Bruges and one of the > co-authors of Roeach. He gave some details about the illustration concerning > masturbating toddlers in the catechism book. He said that the illustration > was intended to convey the message that “toddlers experience sexual lust.” > Vanhaelemeesch revealed that the committee of bishops had mentioned this > illustration in an evaluation report of the catechism book. The report > stated: “The presentation of the sexual-pedagogical attitudes is rendered > ridiculous in the eyes of the pupils by the text balloons.” According to > Vanhaelemeesch this criticism “indicates that the bishops had no objections > at all to the message conveyed [i.e. toddlers experience sexual lust], but > feared that the pupils would not take it seriously.” > > When I had exhausted all possibilities and it was clear that the Belgian > church did not want to hear the parents, I decided to sever all ties with the > Catholic education system. I took my five children out of school and set up a > homeschool together with other parents, so our children would be educated in > a Catholic environment. > > I sent a letter to all the cardinals in the world to inform them about the > contents of the Roeach textbook. “Please be assured that this Dicastery will > give your report all due consideration, answered Mgr. Clemens, Cardinal > Ratzinger’s personal secretary, for the Congregation of the Faith in Rome; > Cardinal Gagnon from Rome appreciated “the just battle which you are > conducting”; “The matter which you raised is very important,” wrote Cardinal > Arinze from Rome. > > I received letters of support from cardinals from all parts of the globe. “I > share your concern. It is important that you do not leave the matter > uncontested,” wrote Cardinal Meisner of Cologne; “You have good reasons to be > concerned,” wrote Cardinal Wamala of Uganda; “I feel strongly enough to write > to Cardinal Danneels in the hope that he may enlighten me,” wrote Cardinal > Vidal of the Philippines; “If I have the opportunity to discuss with Cardinal > Danneels the matter you have drawn to my attention, I will do so,” wrote > Cardinal Williams of New Zealand; “I shall try to do something in order to > help you,” wrote Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo; “I am aware that > your concerns have been brought to the attention of Cardinal Laghi, Prefect > for the Congregation for Catholic Education,” wrote Cardinal O’Connor of New > York. > > On 27 February 2010 the daily newspaper De Standaard wrote that these letters > “enhanced Rome’s perception of the weak church leadership in Belgium.” Hence, > the liberal Danneels was replaced by Mgr Léonard. Rome hopes that he will be > able to restore the church in Belgium. I share this hope. However, it is a > pity that it has taken so long. The damage that has been done is greater than > anyone could have imagined. > > Dr. Alexandra Colen MP is a member of the Belgian House of Representatives. >
