"A nightmare!" – Pope travel coordinator with harsh criticism

The logistics coordinator of the local church, Patrick du Bois, is quite critical of the Pope's visit to Belgium in September 2024. "The next visit needs to be planned much more carefully," he writes in a guest article for the portal "cathobel.be" (Thursday).

The coordination and follow-up of the Pope's speeches was "a nightmare", as "the Holy See's diplomatic services paid very little attention to the impact of the Holy Father's - sometimes unpredictable - gestures and words in Belgium", du Bois continues, "not to mention" mutual misunderstandings during the visit to the university in Louvain-la-Neuve "or the words spoken on the plane on the way back to Rome".

In the latter case, the coordinator alludes to a diplomatic crisis that Pope Francis triggered during his "flying press conference" on the flight back to Rome. He had spoken of "criminal laws" in Belgium with regard to abortion. He described abortion as "murder" and doctors involved as "contract killers".

"Mixed results"

du Bois' "mixed record" "in both diplomatic and financial terms" also includes the "drastic security measures" taken by the Belgian authorities and the Vatican: "Everyone who approached the Holy Father had to be identified and searched - at the expense of the Church in Belgium!" The logistics coordinator openly criticised the Pope's ambassador to Belgium at the time, Archbishop Franco Coppola, who was very critical of the Belgian Church. Du Bois: "Although he should have been a partner, he was more of an obstacle to the organisation and smooth running of the visit."

Another challenge was the broadcasting of all public papal appearances. The Vatican demanded that the images and audio be made available to all TV stations worldwide free of charge. Normally, the public broadcaster of the host country takes over the production and broadcasting of the images; "but in Belgium, RTBF and VRT limited themselves to a few images of the arrival and departure". The church in Belgium took over all other recordings. However, du Bois cites the large church meeting in the Basilica of Koekelberg, the breakfast with the homeless in Saint-Gilles and the mass with 40,000 people in the King Baudouin Stadium as the "undeniable fruits" of the Pope's visit to Belgium.

According to du Bois, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were very enthusiastic about the idea of a papal visit to Belgium. They had taken the initiative and officially invited the Pope in September 2023. The Belgian Bishops' Conference was "informed rather than involved", criticises the church coordinator. Luc Terlinden had therefore only just been consecrated Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels; and: "The Belgian government was presented with a fait accompli, almost as in day-to-day business." The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister were "virtually not involved" in the preparations for the visit of a foreign head of state. (KNA)