Panel Chairman Peter Adriaenssens says the authorities betrayed the trust of nearly 500 victims who had made complaints over the past two months. He said on Monday the panel had been used as bait by state prosecutors eager to talk to victims who were reluctant to make complaints to police. Authorities seized church documents and computers, detained bishops and even opened up a prelate’s crypt on June 24. Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called the police raids “deplorable.” It was his first public comment on the deepening diplomatic rift between Belgium and the Vatican.