It is not a subject that is much in the news and not even talked about often in most Catholic circles, but it does come up just often enough to keep me from forgetting about it. I am speaking about the Cause for Canonization of the late King Baudouin of Belgium. Personally, I am totally in favour of such a campaign and it is a well-known secret that I am working hard to attain such an important goal. King Baudouin was always known as a very devout man of faith and is said to have considered becoming a Trappist monk but, due to the unfortunate abdication of his father, King Leopold III, it was prevailed upon him that two abdications in a row could be the end of the Belgian monarchy and for the good of the country he remained a layman. The Catholic Church played a major part in everything he did and said and he was also associated with the Charismatic Renewal Movement in the Church. However, I don’t think there is any doubt that what made King Baudouin stand out was his refusal to grant royal assent to a Bill legalizing abortion. Faced with a deadlock, government officials came up with the solution of basically deposing the King until they enacted the Bill themselves and then placing him back on the throne.

Thus, it is not surprising that who are already praying to King Baudouin are those in the Pro-Life movements who see him as a great hero in the struggle against what the late Pope John Paul II called “the culture of death”. John Paul II himself paid tribute to the late King of the Belgians. In fact, King Baudouin was the last living member of the Supreme Order of Christ, the most rare and prestigious papal honour after it was revised by Pope Saint Pius X in 1905. John Paul II visited the tomb of King Baudouin, together with his widow Queen Fabiola and four witnesses, and later spoke in the highest terms of the late King of the Belgians as a man who put Jesus Christ at the centre of his life and as a monarch who defended God and human rights, including the rights of the unborn! Some, of course, have said that such efforts did not really matter as the law was passed anyway so, ultimately, King Baudouin accomplished nothing!

My response to that is; fine, but who did more? What more could he have done? The King could not change the hearts and minds of the politicians nor could he change popular opinion. The only thing he could do was either sign the Bill or not sign it: he refused to sign. What other monarch in Christendom did as much? He risked a great deal for taking his moral stand and that should not be shrugged off. It should also be kept in mind that it was not the King who found the legal “loophole” to enact the Bill without royal assent. That was the politicians at work. However, even then, I look at someone like the celebrated English statesman Sir Thomas More. Does anyone say that More’s refusal to swear to the First Succession Act was meaningless because his refusal did not stop the Act altogether? In fact, More searched desperately for any “loophole” that would allow him to obey his King and his God, yet no one thinks less of More. How is it then that King Baudouin should be criticized for not being able to single-handedly turn the tide of liberal secularism in our continent?

Recently, the subject of a possible Cause of Canonization for King Baudouin was brought up again. There seems to be no doubt that the issue is or has been looked into by Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Brussels. Personally, I believe King Baudouin is in Heaven and, as such, I already consider him a saint. Now it only depends on the Catholic hierarchy in Belgium to petition the Holy See for a possible Cause of Canonization of this great Catholic monarch. If this happens I would certainly support it wholeheartedly and encourage others to do the same. Modern day politicians (including Catholic politicians) are in great need of exemplary Catholic politicians who serve God and their countrymen and participate actively in political life, in a manner consistent with the teaching of the Church, bringing their well-founded reasoning and great ideals to the democratic debate and the search for a broad consensus among everyone who cares about the defence of life and freedom, the protection of truth and the good of the family, solidarity with the needy, and the vital search for the common good.

Dennis Mifsud

NADUR