 On 26 April 2010, it was reported that Vangheluwe had retired to Westvleteren Abbey with a state pension of about US$3,600 a month.On 12 September 2010, the Huffington Post reported that Vangheluwe would immediately leave the abbey and had stated that "as of today, I will contemplate my life and future somewhere hidden, outside the bishopry of Bruges.