Belgian prime minister criticizes Pope Francis for statements on abortion

Pope Francis and King Philippe listen to a speech by Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during the pope’s trip to Belgium in late September 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Deutsch, Oct 4, 2024 / 11:50 am (CNA).

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo criticized Pope Francis for comments the pope made on abortion last week when he was returning to Rome from Belgium. The apostolic nuncio in Belgium and Luxembourg, Archbishop Franco Coppola, is being officially summoned to discuss the matter.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for a foreign head of state to make such statements about democratic decision-making in our country,” De Croo said on Thursday.

During the in-flight press conference on the way back from Belgium on Sunday, Pope Francis emphasized: “Women have a right to life, to their lives, and to the lives of their children. Let us not forget to say that.” He then added: “Abortion is a homicide. … It kills a human being. The doctors who carry it out are contract killers. … And there is no debate about that.”

The pontiff emphasized that he was specifically talking “about abortion, and you can’t discuss that. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

In contrast, De Croo said that Belgium “does not need lessons on how our parliamentarians pass laws democratically … Fortunately, the time when the Church dictated the laws in our country is long gone.”

Belgium has a population of less than 12 million people and at least 16,000 children are killed in the womb every year, according to official figures. A peak was reached in 2011 with almost 20,000 deaths by abortion.

The Belgian Parliament is currently debating whether abortion should also be legal after the 12th week of pregnancy. Specifically, it is about extending the limit to 18 weeks, which means that even unborn children older than 4 months could be killed.

During his visit, Pope Francis on Sept. 28 described laws legalizing abortion as “murderous” and “criminal” when he visited the tomb of Belgian King Baudouin in the royal crypt of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.

King Baudouin refused to sign a law allowing abortions in Belgium in 1990. He was therefore — with his consent — declared unfit to govern for a day by the government, which then enacted the law. He was then reinstated as king.

Against this backdrop, Pope Francis said that Baudouin decided to “leave his office as king in order not to sign a murderous law.”

As prime minister of Belgium, De Croo is a member of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Open VLD) party. In the elections in June, the party only won 5.5% of the vote. Open VLD also won just 8.5% of the vote in 2019. After more than a year of negotiations, a coalition government consisting of seven parties was finally formed, with De Croo at the helm.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.