“Compassion and condolence” were expressed by Bishop André-Mutien Leonard of Namur (Belgium) to the family of Elisabeth Brichet, the twelve-year-old Belgian girl who disappeared in 1989, close to Namur, and whose body was found on 3 July in the grounds of the castle of Satou, in the Ardennes on the borders between Belgium and France. The site of her burial was revealed, in recent days, by her murderer and kidnapper, Michel Fourniret, who has confessed to no less than nine murders, seven of them young girls, committed in France and Belgium between 1989 and 2001. “It is with deep emotion that I have heard the news of the finding of the body of the young Elisabeth Brichet writes the bishop in a statement -. On behalf of the bishops of Belgium, and in union with the Catholics of the province of Namur and of the whole country, I wish to present my condolences to Elisabeth’s family. After 15 years of Calvary, they can, finally, mourn for their child”. Msgr. Leonard has also expressed his condolences “to all the families of the other victims of this tragedy. The news he says daily reminds us that we are living in a harsh and sometimes even cruel world. When an adult takes advantage of a child, the fundamental values of our society are traduced. May the tragedy of the child Elisabeth remain in our hearts and our memory as a constant appeal to build for our children a world worthy of humanity”.
