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Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo revealed on Thursday that he has summoned the Vatican’s ambassador in response to Pope Francis’s remarks labeling the country’s abortion laws as “murderous,” made during the pontiff’s visit the previous week.
While speaking to parliament, Prime Minister De Croo described the Pope’s statements as “unacceptable” and confirmed that he has called in the apostolic nuncio, the Vatican’s top diplomat in Belgium, to engage in discussions about the controversy.
“My message to the apostolic nuncio will be very clear: what happened there is unacceptable,” he said.
“We do not need lessons on how our lawmakers democratically approve laws. The time when the church dictated the law in our country is fortunately long behind us,” he said.
At 87 years old, Pope Francis encountered criticism for his comments about women during a three-day visit, a trip that was overshadowed by lingering controversies surrounding sexual abuse scandals within the Church.
During his stay, the Argentinian pontiff paid tribute to late Belgian King Baudouin who took a public stance against abortion.
In 1990 Baudouin refused to sign a law lifting penalties for abortion, citing personal convictions.
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Visiting the monarch’s tomb, Francis described the legislation — passed after the king temporarily renounced his functions to avoid having to endorse it — as “a murderous law”.
He also later compared doctors performing abortions to hired killers.
The Roman Catholic leader has used similar language before. But his latest comments caused an outcry in Belgium, coming at a sensitive time.
Plans to extend the time limit to carry out an abortion to 18 weeks of pregnancy have been put on hold as parties negotiating to form a government after elections in June are divided on the issue.
