Pope Confronts Church Abuse
Pope Leo urges French bishops to sustain efforts to prevent child sexual abuse
Anonymous
Pope Leo XIV urged French bishops to sustain efforts to prevent and eradicate child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, emphasizing vigilance, accountability, justice, reparation and protection. He praised steps already taken while stressing that the Church must confront its own failures and continue listening to survivors. The appeal came during his visit to Lourdes, where he was scheduled to meet privately with seven adult survivors. A 2021 French inquiry estimated that about 330,000 people were abused as children by clergy or others connected to the Church over seven decades.
Key Points
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The private meeting with the seven survivors was to take place without the French bishops present, according to the French Bishops’ Conference spokesperson, who said the visit showed that abuse “cannot be ignored.”
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About 150,000 people attended Pope Leo’s Mass at the Lourdes shrine. The site is revered as a place of healing, and abuse survivors have also visited it in recent years while seeking to recover from trauma.
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In his Lourdes homily, Leo said the Church must have “the courage to begin with herself” and urged repentance “today, not tomorrow.” The night before, he had knelt silently at the grotto of Massabielle for nearly four minutes.
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