Pope meets homeless and undocumented in Brussels

In a surprise change to his schedule, Pope Francis met with homeless and undocumented people in Brussels’ church of Saint-Gilles on Saturday morning. He learned about their lives over croissants and coffee.

10 people gathered around a table at the church of Saint Gilles in the centre of the city where they usually receive their breakfast outside.

The table was moved into the church to escape the rain. The group chatted with Pope Francis about their experiences and challenges.

They got a laugh from the pope when they gave him a gift of beer made by the parish to raise funds for charity, four bottles of La Biche de Saint Gilles.

Among the group was a migrant who made his way on a boat across the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa and then was thrown in prison.

He told the Pope he lost his will to pray. He has now found his faith again.

Father Benjamin Kabongo, a Franciscan friar who works with the homeless at Saint Gilles, said it was a very strong gesture for the pope to come and listen to these people that the world does not pay attention to.

Shortly after, he left for the Koekelberg Basilica of the Sacred Heart, where he addressed local bishops, priests and the Catholic community.

People read out letters in which they challenged the Pope and shared questions on various aspects of the Catholic church.

Responding to criticisms

Just a day earlier, Francis also received public criticisms from the Belgian king, prime minister and the rector of the Catholic university in Leuven.

The criticisms included the church’s cover-up of clergy sexual abuse to its refusal to respond to demands of women and LGBTQ+ Catholics for a place in the church.

Francis met with the people most harmed by the Catholic Church in Belgium — the men and women who were raped and molested by priests as children and the single mothers who were forced to give up their newborns for adoption to avoid the stigma of raising them out of wedlock.

Luc Sels, the rector of Leuven Catholic University, told the pope that the abuse scandals had so weakened the church’s moral authority that it would do well to reform, to the point of ordaining women as priests, if it wants to regain its relevance.

Through it all, Francis expressed his remorse, begged forgiveness and promised to do everything possible to make sure such abuses never occur again.

“This is our shame and humiliation,” he said in his first public remarks on Belgian soil.

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Pope Francis is on a four day trip to Luxembourg and Belgium.