Vatican restricted retired Belgian bishop
The Vatican imposed confidential disciplinary measures on its former bishop in 2021.
A Belgian diocese confirmed this week that the Vatican imposed confidential disciplinary measures on its former bishop in 2021.
The Diocese of Namur, in southern Belgium, said April 21 that retired Bishop Rémy Vancottem was informed five years ago that he could no longer celebrate Mass in public or participate in bishops’ conference bodies due to his mishandling of an abuse case.
The 82-year-old Vancottem led the diocese from 2010 until his retirement in 2019, at the age of 75.
The disciplinary measures came to light following inquiries by the Belgian weekly magazine Humo.
The magazine published an article April 20 highlighting that the diocese will host four bishops following the return to Belgium from France of the 85-year-old Archbishop André Léonard. The diocese is also home to Bishop Fabien Lejeusne, who has led the diocese since December 2025, and the retired prelates Bishop Pierre Warin and Bishop Vancottem.
The magazine reported that Vancottem lived with his sister in the town of Arlon and had little contact with the local Church.
“He still strolls through the city streets daily with his sister’s dog, but he rarely speaks to anyone. There is no sign that he is an emeritus bishop: he is shabbily dressed and there is no cross on his lapel,” it said.
The magazine quoted an anonymous source saying that Vancottem had been “punished by the Vatican.” It also noted that he did not take part in Pope Francis’ 2024 visit to Belgium.
Vancottem declined to comment when contacted by the magazine.
In response to journalists following up the Humo report, the Namur diocese said that Vancottem had received a confidential letter in March 2021, delivered by Archbishop Augustin Kasujja, the then-apostolic nuncio to Belgium.
The letter informed him that he was subject to disciplinary measures following a decree signed by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the then-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.
The Vatican imposed the restrictions after it concluded that Vancottem had failed to show “all due diligence and sufficient follow-up in an investigation requested by the Holy See” in the case of a priest who sexually abused a minor and was ultimately dismissed from the clerical state.
The diocese said that when the victim attempted to file a complaint with the civil authorities, she was informed that the statute of limitations had expired. She then contacted the Vatican.
The diocese noted that Vancottem was retired when he was told of the disciplinary measures. It underlined that the restrictions related to his negligent handling of the abuse case and not to any criminal or sexual acts by the bishop himself.
It said the Vatican had asked Vancottem and the diocese to respect the confidential nature of the disciplinary measures.
The diocese added that the situation would be handled differently if it occurred today, as the Church in Belgium has “a firm commitment to total transparency and zero tolerance.”
Vancottem is not the only bishop to have been subjected to confidential disciplinary measures from the Vatican. The most famous case is that of the U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who faced curbs on his public activities in the late 2000s, before he was dismissed from the clerical state in 2019 for sexual abuse.
In France, which neighbors Belgium, it emerged in 2023 that the Vatican had ordered the retired French Archbishop Maurice Gardès to lead a life of prayer and penance in 2021 following allegations of sexual assault and spiritual abuse.
In an April 22 op-ed for the Belgian newspaper La Libre, journalist Bosco d’Otreppe questioned the need for secrecy in the Vancottem case.
“As such, this sanction reflects the stricter measures taken under Pope Francis’ pontificate to combat abuse. However, it is difficult to understand why the bishops’ conference has not been more transparent with the faithful on this matter,” he wrote.
He asked how Church authorities could ensure compliance with a ban on public celebration of the Mass if almost no one knew of its existence.
“More fundamentally, it is in the name of the faithful — for whom the bishop is a shepherd — that the truth must be acknowledged,” he said.
“Hiding it creates taboos and deprives Catholics of information and legitimate means to understand and participate in the life of their Church.”
The cover up is worse than the abuse in a way, because it shows that the institution cares more about its reputation than the victims or the truth.