Former Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe, whose admission of child sexual abuse exposed decades of abuse within the Catholic Church in Belgium, has died at the age of 89.
The Belgian Bishops’ Conference announced his death on Friday, acknowledging that the news could reopen painful memories for survivors of clerical abuse.
“We are aware this news may trigger a new wave of emotion among victims,” the conference said in a statement.
Vangheluwe served as Bishop of Bruges before resigning in 2010 after admitting that he had sexually abused two of his nephews. One of the victims was abused over a period spanning 13 years, beginning in the 1980s.
Although he was never prosecuted because the offences fell outside Belgium’s statute of limitations, his confession sparked widespread public outrage and encouraged thousands of victims to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church dating back several decades.
The scandal returned to the spotlight in 2023 after a documentary examining years of alleged Church inaction over clerical sexual abuse reignited public debate and renewed demands for accountability.
Following the renewed pressure, Belgian bishops again appealed to Pope Francis to permanently remove Vangheluwe from the priesthood. The request was granted in 2024 after the former bishop had spent years living in seclusion at a French abbey.
Defrocking is among the most severe disciplinary measures within the Catholic Church. The sanction strips a member of the clergy of the rights and responsibilities of the priesthood, including the authority to celebrate Mass.
Vangheluwe’s case remains one of Belgium’s most significant clerical abuse scandals and played a major role in exposing the scale of child sexual abuse and institutional failures within the country’s Catholic Church.
