Brussels:
Belgium's longest serving bishop has resigned, expressing sorrow for having sexually abused a
young boy both as a priest and after becoming a bishop in 1984.
The resignation of Roger Vangheluwe, 73, the Bishop of Bruges, was the first from Belgium since a child abuse scandal began testing the Catholic Church several months ago in Europe and the United States. His resignation stands out because while several bishops have resigned amid the abuse scandal - three from Ireland in the past four months alone - they did so under the weight of accusations they shielded pedophiles in their roles, not because they themselves abused children.
"When I was still just a priest, and for a certain period at the beginning of my episcopate, I sexually abused a minor from my immediate environment," Vangheluwe said yesterday in a statement announcing his resignation read by Archbishop Andre Leonard of Belgium. "The victim is still marked by what happened. Over the course of these decades I have repeatedly recognised my guilt toward him and his family, and I have asked forgiveness. But this did not pacify him, as it did not pacify me."
Vangheluwe, who was due to retire next year, did not attend the news conference. Pope Benedict XVI has accepted his resignation.