Ministers of worship and non-denominational philosophies will no longer receive a salary from the Justice Ministry if they cannot provide a blank extract of their criminal record.
In the context of the ongoing scandal, the idea behind the new policy is so that taxpayers are not paying perpetrators of abuse in the Catholic Church.
The government financing of recognised religious services and non-denominational philosophies of life has been a principle that has been in the Constitution since the creation of Belgium in 1831. It is the Justice Ministry that is responsible for the payment of the salaries.
Article 181 of the Constitution stipulates that the Government pays the wages of ministers of worship and non-denominational philosophy of life. As far as I am concerned, this government financing may be re-examined during the next legislature," said Federal Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt in a press release.
"This has long been abolished or adjusted in our neighbouring countries. But as long as we have to pay those wages, I do not want money to go to those who were guilty of abuse or other serious crimes," he stressed. "It is unacceptable that these people would be paid by the Justice Department."
Creating a framework
New cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church emerged in recent months – particularly in and following the 'Godvergeten' documentary on Flemish television.
Since 2010, more than 600 cases have been started about abuse that often occurred decades earlier. However, many of these facts are outdated. Still, this limitation period does not mean that the Justice Ministry – and therefore the taxpayer – must pay the wages of the people responsible for this abuse.
While the authorities are currently counting on the cooperation of the Catholic Church for this, Van Tigchelt wants this to happen automatically in the future: a bill has been drawn up that provides that the payment will not be granted or cancelled if the operator cannot provide a clean criminal record.
"This obviously applies to ministers of all religious services and non-denominational philosophies," his office explained, adding that it prevents people who pose a danger to public order or the physical, psychological and sexual integrity of others from receiving a salary from the Justice Ministry.
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The bill also provides a legal basis so that the check of criminal record extracts takes place in accordance with the GDPR rules. This inspection must be repeated every five years. The basic principle is that the ministers must have a clean criminal record in order to be paid.
An exception option has been included in the bill for people who have an unrelated crime on their criminal record, such as a conviction for excessive speed in traffic. The representative body of the religious service can then request this exception and must provide a thorough explanation.
Four people have already been removed from the payroll and a procedure for four others is ongoing, Van Tigchelt said. "But it is important that we also provide a legal framework for this so that these people are excluded by definition from now on."
The bill was approved by the Council of Ministers in its first reading on Friday and will now be submitted to the Council of State for advice.
