Roger Vangheluwe, the former bishop of Bruges, died on July 1, 2026, at the age of 89. Belgian church authorities confirmed his death and noted that he received a private burial.
Vangheluwe served as bishop from 1985 until his resignation in April 2010. He stepped down after he admitted to sexually abusing his nephew over many years, beginning when the boy was a minor.
In a statement read by church officials at the time, Vangheluwe said, “Before I was a bishop and for a certain time afterwards I sexually abused a young boy close to me.”
The admission shocked Belgium and exposed wider problems of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Vangheluwe later acknowledged similar abuse of a second nephew. Belgian authorities could not prosecute him due to the statute of limitations.
In 2011, Vangheluwe appeared on television and described the abuse as “a game.” That comment drew strong criticism. Victims’ advocates and officials condemned his remarks as insensitive.
The scandal forced the Belgian Church to confront its handling of abuse cases. It led to increased calls for accountability at the highest levels.
For more than a decade, Vangheluwe lived in seclusion, including time in a French abbey. Belgian bishops repeatedly urged the Vatican to defrock him. In March 2024, Pope Francis dismissed Vangheluwe from the clerical state. The decision followed a review by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and new elements in the case.
After the laicization, Vangheluwe requested to live in retreat for prayer and penance, with no external contact.
Vangheluwe became a symbol of the Church’s failure to address abuse swiftly. His case highlighted delays in Vatican responses and fueled public distrust. Church leaders in Belgium described him as the most prominent figure in the country’s clergy abuse scandals.
His death closes a painful chapter. Belgian bishops announced the news on Friday and expressed no further public comments on the private burial.
