[1/11]Pope Francis stands as he meets with the catholic community at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, in a speech welcoming Francis, said the Luxembourg constitution proclaims human dignity as a “fundamental right”.
“We must each of us constantly strive to ensure that this dignity is maintained,” he said.
Francis met local Catholics at an event later Thursday at Luxembourg’s Notre-Dame Cathedral. Hundreds of people stood outside the 17th century church to greet the pope, many holding umbrellas under grey, drizzling skies.
MEETING CLERGY ABUSE VICTIMS
In Belgium, where the pope is travelling Thursday afternoon, he will hold a private meeting with 15 survivors of abuse, the country’s ambassador to the Vatican, Patrick Renault, said.
More than 700 complaints and reports of abuse involving the church have been made in Belgium since 2012, according to a church report. In March, the pope expelled from the priesthood a former Belgian bishop who admitted to sexually abusing two nephews.
On the flight from Rome on Thursday morning, Francis briefly greeted the journalists travelling on the plane with him, but did not tour the aircraft to meet them individually, as he usually does.
The pope, who now uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain, said he did not feel up to “making the trip” around the back of the single-aisle aircraft.
Luxembourg, a country with an area of 2,586 square km (998 square miles), counts about 271,000 Catholics among its population, the Vatican says.
Sign up here.
Reporting by Joshua McElwee and Marine Strauss, editing by Bart Meijer and Andrew Heavens
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Purchase Licensing Rights
Source link : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pope-francis-lands-luxembourg-first-leg-rare-european-trip-2024-09-26/
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-26 07:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.