Belgian Archbishop Hit with Pie After AIDS, Pedophile Priests Comments

   André-Joseph Léonard  

The saga of Belgian head prelate Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard took a turn on Nov. 1 when Léonard was hit with a pie during an All Saints’ Day mass.

Reuters reported on the "entarté" ("pie-in-the-face") episode in a Nov. 6 article, noting that the pastry-wielding assailant struck after the archbishop had exacerbated outrage over the pedophile priest crisis by saying that retired clerical offenders should not face criminal charges. The archbishop had also raised hackles with a comment to the effect that AIDS serves as retribution against gays for engaging in sexual behavior with one another.


After calling AIDS "inherent justice" for gays in an interview that was included in a book, Léonard went on to clarify his statement, telling the media in October, "At the beginning of this epidemic, if I’ve understood the scientific articles, there were risky practices, sex with multiple partners, anal relations instead of vaginal which allowed this proliferation to happen. So we can say, if we want to reason in that way, that nature is taking revenge if you don’t use your body correctly."







-end-