Pope Francis meets with homeless and undocumented people in Brussels church

As part of his trip to Belgium, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to Saint Gilles where he met with homeless and undocumented people.

Transcript

00:00In a surprise change to his schedule, Pope Francis met with homeless and undocumented

00:07people in Brussels' Church of Saint-Gilles on Saturday morning. Among the group was a

00:12migrant who made his way on a boat across the Mediterranean to the Italian island of

00:16Lampedusa and then was thrown in prison. Shortly after, he left for the Koukouberg Basilica

00:23of the Sacred Heart, where he addressed local bishops, priests and the Catholic community.

00:29People read out letters in which they challenged the Pope and shared questions on various aspects

00:33of the Catholic Church. Just a day earlier, Francis also received public criticisms from

00:41the Belgian king, prime minister and the rector of the Catholic University in Leuven. These

00:46included the church's cover-up of clergy's sexual abuse and its refusal to respond to

00:51demands of women and LGBTQ plus Catholics for a place in the church.

00:57The rector of Leuven Catholic University told the Pope that the abuse scandals had

01:01so weakened the church's moral authority that it would do well to reform, to the point of

01:06ordaining women as priests if it wants to regain its relevance.