Bonny's resignation comes weeks before Pope Francis' visit to Belgium, potentially overshadowing the event with the ongoing abuse crisis.

Bishop Bonny, 69, announced his resignation on 25 July, stating that the burden of his responsibilities had become too great.

Despite his request for an auxiliary bishop to assist in managing the Diocese of Antwerp, the Vatican declined, citing concerns over linguistic balance among the bishops.

This rejection, coupled with a lack of support from his fellow bishops, led to Bonny's decision.

Bonny's departure leaves the Belgian Church scrambling to find a replacement before Pope Francis' visit from 26 to 29 September, which includes a planned private meeting with abuse survivors.

Emotional toll

Bonny told Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: "The policy, the media, the negotiations... It's a very big task and I have to combine that with caring for a large diocese like that of Antwerp.

"I no longer have the strength for that total sum. I have to reduce that."

He said that the work had taken an emotional toll.

"It's not just about working hours, but it has an immediate personal impact. It's of a different order than all the other work you do as a bishop" he explained.

"Even my doctor says ‘Stop it, it's destroying you'."

The documentary series "Godvergeten" ("Godforsaken") which aired in 2023, reignited public and political scrutiny on clerical abuse in Belgium. This led to increased pressure on Bonny and heightened public anger, with many Catholics leaving the Church.

The series also prompted inquiries in both the Belgian Federal Parliament and the Flemish Parliament.

Bonny has been a prominent figure in addressing the abuse crisis since 2010.

His efforts include public apologies and a call for systemic changes within the Church.

Acknowledging the Church's past failures, he said he was tired of the "strong words addressed to the Church for 15 years, in the media, saying that we have done nothing".

Despite his resignation, Bonny pledged to continue supporting abuse victims, emphasising that their needs remain a priority.

He stressed the necessity for his successor to be competent and dedicated, urging the bishops' conference to reassess the division of responsibilities.

Sources

The Pillar

Cathobel

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on March 15 published a document reiterating the Vatican's longstanding position that it is "illicit" for Catholic priests to bless same-sex unions.

God "does not and cannot bless sin", the responsum said.

There is some support to the responsum from within the church hierarchy.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican's laity office, concurred with the pronouncement that a "blessing" is a sacramental action. It relates to the marriage sacrament, which the church teaches can only be celebrated between a man and a woman.

Farrell said civil unions are not "marriages" as the Catholic Church understands the term. He stressed: "I do want to insist that nobody be excluded from the pastoral care and love of the church."

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and head of the Vatican's development office, Cardinal Peter Turkson, pointed to Francis' pastoral outreach to gay men and lesbians. But they repeated the church's position.

"The church has a very clear teaching about marriage that needs to be proclaimed," O'Malley said during an online panel discussion organized by Georgetown University.

However, bishops from several different countries immediately criticised the CDF intervention calling it "unacceptable", hurtful and clumsy.

"I feel ashamed for my church. I mainly feel intellectual and moral incomprehension," said Bishop Johan Bonny, 65, of Antwerp (Belgium).

"Controlling who can or cannot receive God's blessing is inadequate and wrong," said Franz Kreissl, director of pastoral services for the Diocese of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg said he was "unhappy" with the new note published by the Vatican.

In the USA, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago underlined that the CDF note offers "nothing new on the Church's teaching".

"This should prompt us in the Church to redouble our efforts. We need to be creative and resilient in finding ways to welcome and encourage all LGBTQ people in our family of faith," the 72-year-old cardinal emphasized.

In France, the publication of the CDF text has aroused a sense of anger in LGBTQ+ Christian movements and associations.

"What is disappointing is that we had the feeling that some things were moving on the ground, especially in dialogue with the dioceses," lamented Cyrille de Compiègne, spokesperson for the Association David & Jonathan.

Sources

• La Croix
• AP News
• Religion News

In a letter reported by The Tablet, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said there is a gap between the moral teachings of the Church and the moral insights of the faithful.

He ascribed this partly to the failure to develop the collegiality between bishops and the Vatican decided virtually unanimously at the Second Vatican Council.

Bishops found themselves caught between their desire to minister to the faithful in the new pastoral manner and loyalty to popes who stressed the primacy of the magisterium, he said.

The Church must "dare once again to start with ‘life' and then move on to ‘teaching'", the bishop argued.

This is at a time when many lay people ignore or reject some doctrinal or moral decisions coming from Rome, he added.

"The Church has nothing to lose in this regard," the bishop noted.

"The Church must step away from its defensive, antithetical stance and seek anew the path of dialogue" on moral issues, he wrote.

Vatican II had also stressed the importance of personal conscience, but since the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae banning artificial birth control, it had been sidelined, his letter said.

The synod should "restore conscience to its rightful place in the teaching of the Church".

The 5-19 October meeting should not be a "platonic synod" focused on safe doctrinal debate and "bipolar thinking" in terms of regular and irregular situations.

Instead, it should try to accompany people like unwed mothers, same-sex unions, cohabiting couples or couples who resort to IVF after failure to conceive.

Bishop Bonny also said the Church must ask itself if the ban on Communion for the divorced and remarried properly reflects what Jesus intended with the Eucharist.

"We have to bear in mind that a large company of publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus," he wrote.

Vatican commentator Sandro Magister noted that Bishop Bonny had a close collaboration with Cardinal Walter Kasper when the latter was head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

At a meeting of cardinals earlier this year, Cardinal Kasper asked that ways be found in which divorced and remarried Catholics could receive communion.

Weighing the evidence, Magister concluded that Pope Francis leans towards the views of theologians like Cardinal Kasper on this question.

Sources

• The Tablet
• La Repubblica
• Image: National Catholic Reporter