The Monitor | Operation Chalice | January 20, 2012
In an unprecedented move this week, federal prosecutors in Belgium sent search teams into the headquarters of all eight of the country's Catholic dioceses. OnMonday, detectives confiscated files from the offices of the archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel and the dioceses of Antwerp and Hasselt; on Tuesday, from the dioceses of Bruges and Ghent and the office of a religious order; and on Wednesday, from the dioceses of Liège, Namur, and Tournai.
This is the first time that an entire nation's Catholic hierarchy has been investigated by civil authorities. Part of an extensive investigation called "Operation Chalice," this week'ssweep generated more than 50 priest personnel files. Prosecutors will examine them for evidence that church officials culpably mismanaged abusive clergy.
Prosecutors are particularly interested in abusers supervised by former Bruges bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who resigned in April 2010 after admitting to molesting his nephewfor years. Belgian church officials subsequently acknowledged complaints from hundreds of victims, including 13 who committed suicide.
The world first learned of Operation Chalice (see overview here) on June 24, 2010, when armed Belgian police seized hundreds of records from the former archbishop's home and office and searched two prelates' tombs. Belgian courts ultimately ruled the files inadmissible but allowed the investigation to continue.
YOU'RE INVITED. If you are in the metro New York area, please consider joining Terry McKiernan and me at Cardozo Law School this Tuesday, January 24. We will be giving a talk moderated by Professor Marci Hamilton, followed by a question-and-answer session and an informal reception. It's free and open to the public. We'd love to see you! See Cardozo's flyer here.
Best,
Anne
Anne Barrett Doyle
Co-Director
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