Days later on April 8, Bishop Vangheluwe approached the cardinal at a Catholic senior citizen’s association meeting, which was honouring Cardinal Danneels. The bishop asked him to attend and facilitate a meeting between himself and his family.
The cardinal was “reluctant” and preferred another date, but the bishop said his family was already on the way.
“If the cardinal has been naïve, it is at this point, when accepting the request to mediate,” the cardinal’s lawyer argued. “But it would be a very cynical position to hold against Cardinal Danneels the fact that he opted to attempt a reconciliation in a family tragedy, and in doing so, exposed himself to potential negative press coverage, rather than choosing the easy way out by shifting the problem to the papal nuncio.”
The cardinal was “unprepared.” He assumed his role was to mediate in a case which had been kept a family secret and assumed that some family members wished to achieve reconciliation and some reparation “without a public scandal.”
However, according to Keuleneer’s account, the bishop’s nephew expected he would have the opportunity to address his uncle’s “employer,” somebody in a position to dismiss the bishop. The nephew also expected the new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, André-Mutien Léonard, to be attending.
The cardinal reportedly asked the victim what he wanted to be done several times and whether he wanted it to be publicized. The victim replied that he left the case up to “you,” using the plural form.
Asked whether the bishop should resign, the victim replied that Bishop Vangheluwe should decide what to do. The victim said that he desired the bishop to confess openly in front of the family.
Media reports also focused on the cardinal’s proposal that the victim forgive his abuser. The lawyer explained this as “the Catholic and moreover correct answer towards a repenting sinner.
“An abuse victim who is able to forgive – after penance and repair by the offender whatever that still can be repaired – is a happier individual in comparison to a victim who merely scored in court or who only received financial compensation,” he continued. “Forgiveness and reconciliation are there not only for those who receive forgiveness but also for those who grant forgiveness.”
Cardinal Danneels’ lawyer also responded to claims that the victim published a part of the conversations because he had been accused of blackmail. He said it was not the cardinal who spread such a rumor.
“(I)t remains completely unclear how destroying one reputation can repair the tarnishing of another one,” commented Keuleneer in the statement provided to CNA.
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