BRUSSELS, June 25 (UPI) -- Police in Belgium said they raided several locations Thursday, including the Catholic Church headquarters, looking for evidence in a sex abuse scandal.
Police also searched for evidence at the palace of Cardinal Andre-Joseph Leonard, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, and the offices of a church commission that has been dealing with complaints of abuse by clergy members, The New York Times reported.
Belgian authorities are looking into a series of allegations that clergy members sexually abused children. Roger Vangheluwe, the bishop of Bruges, resigned after admitting in April he had molested a boy.
Police raids on church property are "extremely rare, very rare, especially in the house of a cardinal," Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli told the Times.
Peter Adriaenssens, who heads the church commission looking into abuse complaints, said he was "appalled" that police seized the commission's records, the Dutch Web site Het Nieuwsblad, said.
Adriaenssens told reporters at a news conference Thursday some people who had communicated with the commission were concerned the confidentiality of their statements might be at risk.
