Belgium's appalling abuse legacy clouds pope's trip as survivors pen letter seeking reparations

Pope Francis is traveling to Belgium this week and is in for a sober welcome. The once-staunchly Catholic country is again confronting its appalling legacy of clergy sex abuse and institutional cover-up. Abuse survivors have penned an open letter to Francis, asking him to launch a universal system of church reparations and assume responsibility for the wreckage that abuse has wrought on their lives. They will be hand delivering it to Francis when he meets with 15 survivors during his four-day visit starting Thursday. None of this was foreseen when Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde invited Francis last year to visit to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the founding of Belgium’s two Catholic universities.