During his 2024 visit to the Catholic University of Leuven, Pope Francis was subjected to a very public dressing down in a speech by Luc Sels, the rector of the college Francis did not take it lying down, before his trip was over he had said 'abortion is murder', women should not try to be men and referred to abortion laws as 'murderous' and 'criminal'. He even called abortionists 'hitmen'. Sels had asked Francis publicly if the church would be 'warmer' with women priests, criticised the church on sexuality issues and abuse. The criticism was completely unprecedented for a Catholic University to a pope, with Francis having made the visit to celebrate their 400th anniversary. Francis was not drawn into an argument, but spent the remainder of his Belgian trip causing absolute havoc in the mainstream media, causing a worldwide meltdown He visited their sister university UCLouvain the following day and decided to press the nuclear button in front of a hostile crowd, telling them: 'It is terrible when a woman wants to be a man: no, she is a woman, and this is “heavy” and important' He then mentioned as female roles 'from marriage to motherhood, or from virginity to the service of others and the building up of the kingdom of God' The speech caused a MELTDOWN among faculty, with the university releasing a statement criticising Francis for his views on femininity He responded: ​'That document was pre-made. It was written in the moment in which I spoke, which is not moral... To masculinise women is not human; it is not Christian. An exaggerated feminism, which means that women become like chauvinists, does not work. One thing is chauvinism, that does not work; another is feminism, that does not work' On the topic of abortion, Francis decided to go scorched earth, telling reporters that 'abortion is murder': 'Women. Women have the right to life: to their own lives and the lives of their children. Let us not forget to say this: abortion is murder. Science tells you that within a month of conception, all the organs are already there. A human being is killed. And doctors who engage in this are – permit me to say – hitmen. They are hitmen. This cannot be disputed. A human life is killed. Women have the right to protect life' Francis announced at Mass during the visit that the beatification cause for King Baudouin had been opened, the king who abdicated rather than support abortion After visiting his grave, Francis said the abortion laws were 'murderous' and 'criminal' His intervention came as Belgium considered expanding abortion from 12-18 weeks So outraged were the politicians, that the Apostolic Nuncio was summoned in the wake of the comments The visit was the last multi day visit of Pope Francis outside Italy, but it us perhaps a glimpse into the environment that produced the video below