Belgian police raid offices of church in abuse case

The New York Times (6/24, Castle & Kulish) reports on a Belgian police raid on Catholic Church headquarters in Belgium. Responding to complaints about sexual abuse in the territory of the Mechelen-Brussels Archdiocese, police conducted the raid on Tuesday morning, coincidentally during a monthly meeting of bishops. During the raid, police seized cellphones, computers, and documents containing records of the Church’s own investigations into allegations of sexual abuse. Such claims have been increasing ever since the Bishop of Bruges confessed his own molestation of a child in April. The raid was part of a broader policy to bring the Church under the influence of the law, correcting the traditional understanding of the Church as a separate body above and beyond the temporal law of any single government.