The former Head of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium Jozef De Kesel has been summoned to appear before the Criminal Court in Brussels to answer allegations of breach of professional secrecy and defamation.
The decision to issue the former Archbishop of the Mechelen-Brussels diocese with a summons was taken by chambers at the Brussels court on Friday. One of Jozef De Kesel's auxiliary bishops at the time that he was Archbishop also been issued with a summons.
A former priest had filed a complaint against the pair in 2020. He believed that his superiors had disclosed details about his private life and besmirched his reputation. According to the former priest's lawyer, Cédric Vergauwen, both breached professional secrecy by disclosing information that had been entrusted to them. They are also accused of having defamed the former priest by saying that he had sexually abused an adult, an allegation that later turned out to be unfounded.
The court chambers in Brussels says that Jozef De Kesel and his auxiliary bishop should have known that insinuations of this nature that are made in public would have adverse consequences for the person concerned. The case has been referred to the Criminal Court. By deciding to go ahead with a trial chambers acted against the wishes of the public prosecutor's office that had asked for the case to be quashed. It is not yet clear when the trial will get under way.