I wanted to talk about the recent news released about Cardinal Danneels trying to influence King Baudouin to sign the abortion legislation in 1990.
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This is not about the topic of abortion and whether it's right or wrong. What I'm interested in is the (in my opinion) very wrong notion that during his lifetime various people or entities had major influence and sway over King Baudouin's actions and beliefs.
At various times, there were people saying he was under the influence of Sister Veronica O'Brien, Cardinal Suenens, Cardinal Danneels, Liliane de Rethy, his father, Fabiola, the Catholic church and the Roman Catholic Charismatic movement.
I have always seen something completely different than the folks who talk of him being easily swayed. I found him to be quite rigid and solid in his beliefs and actions. He was very deliberate in everything down to how he comported himself physically and his gate.
Perhaps I bring something to the table that others do not see? This is a possibility, and that's why I wanted to start this discussion, if it is of interest to other Baudouin/Fabiola followers.
No doubt Leopold had a strong influence on Baudouin and especially around the abdication and first few years. However, I see beginning with his 1955 trip to the Congo and peaking during his 1959 tour of the USA a blossoming of his self esteem and confidence. More confidence than self esteem.
Then, we come to the time of his looking for a wife. He did not allow himself to be influenced by his grandmother Elizabeth or others into marrying any of the numerous available Princesses of Europe. And, with just about every issue, the tabloids had him associated with different various princesses. He wanted a deeply religious woman and preferably of Spanish heritage and he was firmly set on this. When the opportunity presented itself, he told Suenens about his dilemma of finding a suitable wife. He was absolutely not willing to compromise his standards. The church assisted with networking to bring about an introduction to Fabiola, and I have little doubt that if they had not had the chemistry, he would have kept looking.
Important to point out here is that Leopold and Liliane had absolutely NO IDEA of his engagement. They learned at the same time the country learned about the engagement of the King. He was his own man and kept mainly his own confidence, with the help of Cardinal Suenens and Sister Veronica, who both acted as sort of spiritual mentors or a spiritual director - some may know the full meaning of that term.
Then we enter the phase when people think Fabiola had control of Baudouin - again, I think this is a major deception. While it is said that Liliane and Fabiola took a disliking to one another virtually immediately, I believe it was Baudouin who was most rigid about his dislike of how things developed between the two couples (Liliane/Leopold and Baudouin/Fabiola). After Liliane took all the furniture out of the palace and Baudouin/Fabiola returned from their honeymoon to empty rooms, Baudouin had little to no contact with his father and step-mother.
There are many other stories that I believe show Baudouin's quite stubborn streak in being fairly immune to influence when he had his mind set on something, but nothing shows this as clearly as the abortion issue.
So, it seems now that Danneels tried to convince the King to give royal assent to the liberalization bill. I have even read a bit here and there that even Fabiola, while not speaking to the right or wrong, did remind Baudouin of his constitutional responsibility of providing assent. I do not, however, know if this is true or not of Fabiola's role. But this neither here nor there. The article is about Danneels. No matter what you think of the actual issue, it is a very clear illustration of the strength of character which King Baudouin drew on in dealing with the abortion question.
I believe I read somewhere that he said something like 'how can I face my God knowing that I helped in the destruction of his creation.'
Again, this discussion is not about the issue itself, but about the concept that has always been thrown around about Baudouin that he was easily influenced by various people or organizations (the church) during his lifetime.
I believe this to be quite false and I find him very set in his beliefs and practices.
Any thoughts on this?