BRUSSELS, Belgium, AUG. 16, 2010 (Zenit.org).- A Belgian court has decided that the investigation of the Church regarding sexual abuse cases may continue under the supervision of the same investigating magistrate that launched a police raid of church offices in Brussels last June.
Friday’s decision came after the Catholic Church lodged an official protest against the raid, code-named Operation Chalice, during which they seized hundreds of case files on sexual abuse.
In addition to holding the country’s bishops for nine hours, the police drilled holes in the graves of Cardinals Jozef Van Roey and Leon Suenens, deceased archbishops of Malines-Brussels, located in the crypt of the cathedral of the Malines-Brussels Archdiocese. Benedict XVI later expressed his “surprise” at the raids, which he said were carried out in a “deplorable manner.”
However, information on the investigation and court decision was not publicly announced because the judge, Wim DeTroy, has requested confidentiality.
A lawyer for a group of the victims, Walter Van Steenbrugge, was reported Saturday as calling the silence “unprecedented arrogance.” He has organized an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that the victims have a right to know the status of a judicial proceeding.