BY MEENA HARTENSTEIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, June 27th 2010, 4:37 PM

Pope Benedict XVI issued a heated letter Sunday criticizing Belgian police for their handling of raids investigation sexual abuse by priests.
Pope Benedict XVI had harsh words for Belgian police Sunday, calling their raids investigating priestly sex abuse last week "surprising and deplorable."

Police conducted the June 24 raids during the monthly meeting of the Belgian Bishops Conference, detaining the nine members for hours and confiscating their cell phones.

They searched two main church offices and the home of former Archbishop Godfried Danneels, seizing computers and files, and opened a tomb, prompting outrage from the Vatican.

"The Secretariat of State expresses its deep shock over the way some of the searches were carried out...and its indignation over the violation" of the tomb, the Vatican said in a statement Friday.

Speaking out for the first time since the raids, the pope issued a letter to the head of the Belgian Bishops Conference Sunday. "At this sad time, I wish to express ... my closeness and solidarity for the surprising and deplorable ways in which the searches were carried out," he wrote.

"I hope that justice takes its course, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of people and institutions with respect to the victims, recognizing without prejudice all those who are committed to collaborating with justice and refuting all that which seeks to obscure its noble goals."

Police and prosecutors have not said if Danneels is suspected of abuse or if he was raided because he had evidence related to abuse allegations against other priests, the Associated Press reported.

In a separate raid, Belgian police also confiscated documents on roughly 500 cases of sexual abuse from an independent investigative panel. The panel's head decried the raid, according to the AP, calling it a major violation of privacy for the men whose records were involved.

The Belgian justice minister, Stefaan De Clerck, defended the raids, saying the protocol was correct and the bishops were given normal treatment, according to the Belga news agency.

According to Reuters, the Belgian church has apologized for its silence on abuse cases in the past and Archbishop Leonard has vowed to enact a zero tolerance policy towards abusive priests.

On Friday, Pope Benedict named Monsignor Jozef De Kesel to be the new bishop of Bruges, Reuters reported. De Kesel replaced Roger Vangheluwe, 73, who resigned in April after admitting that he sexually abused a boy years ago.