‘De-baptism’ gains in Belgium in wake of child abuse scandal FEATURE 01/11/2011

‘De-baptism’ gains in Belgium in wake of child abuse scandal

FEATURE

01/11/2011
BRUSSELS — The child abuse scandals rocking Belgium’s powerful Catholic Church are also shaking the faith of followers, with more and more people asking to be struck off baptism registers — a global movement known as “de-baptism.”

“When you don’t agree with an organization that you never chose to join in the first place, the healthiest thing to do is to leave,” Damien Spleeters told AFP.

In this mainly Catholic country of 10 million people, the 24-year-old is among a growing crowd exasperated by church policy on issues such as AIDS, and angered by revelations last year of massive child abuse by priests and lay workers.

After reports in April that the bishop of Bruges had sexually abused his own nephew for 13 years, starting when the boy was five, a church-backed commission in September issued graphic testimony of nearly 500 cases of child abuse by priests and lay workers, including 13 victims who committed suicide..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110111com3.html