Pope’s visit to Belgium will ‘energise’ Catholic community

By Joseph Tulloch – Brussels

Pope Francis has just touched down in Belgium, beginning a brief but action-packed visit to the country.

While here, he will be meeting with the King and Prime Minister, with the local clergy, and with students and faculty at Leuven and Louvain, the country’s two prestigious Catholic universities.

Walter Ceyssens, SJ, a Jesuit priest living in Leuven, works closely with students attending university there. He spoke to Vatican News about his hopes and expectations for the Pope’s visit.

Facing up to the past

Reflecting on the atmosphere in Belgium ahead of the Pope’s arrival, Fr Ceyssens noted that the “wave” of child sexual abuse scandals in the country in recent years had undermined the Church’s credibility.

“We have had our difficulties,” he stressed, “and we should not deny it or look away.”

The Belgian Jesuit added that, for precisely this reason, he was enthusiastic about the papal visit – it would be an opportunity for the Church to show that it had “learned something from the present situation” about the importance of accountability.  

“As a member of Church”, he said, “I find it very energising. It’s been a long time since I had such a good feeling about the place of the Church in our society.”

Fr Walter Ceyssens, SJ

Hope Happening

One of the ways the Church in Belgium is hoping to harness the positive energy from the Pope’s visit is through Hope Happening, the official youth event for the papal journey, which Fr Ceyssens is helping to organise.

It will take place on Saturday the 28th September in the Brussels Expo, right around the corner from the King Baudouin Stadium where, the next day, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass for around 35,000 people.

“There will be a walk in the morning,” Fr Ceyssens said, “and a ‘City of Hope’, with stands from movements and organizations within the Catholic Church, and there’ll be music.” The next morning, participants will head together to the stadium for Mass with the Pope.

Faith and reason

The Belgian Jesuit also touched on the significance of the Pope’s visit to the Catholic University of Leuven.

It would be, he said, an occasion to stress the importance of the Church’s “intellectual voice in society”.

“The Church has a great intellectual tradition”, he said. “Faith inspires research and reflection, and I think that’s a really important, positive message that the Pope  bring us.”