Pope pledges action on clergy child abuse in meeting with French survivors

Pope Leo XIV privately met with seven adult survivors of clerical child abuse on Sunday during a visit to the pilgrimage town of Lourdes, the Vatican said. The two-hour encounter followed a public Mass in which the pontiff told a large field of worshippers the Church must have the courage to face its past.

Survivors who spoke after the meeting described it as emotional and said the pope expressed personal compassion. Jean-Marie Delbos, who said he had been abused as a pupil at the nearby boarding school of Notre-Dame de Betharram, recounted that the pope embraced him upon seeing his condition. Others said Leo demonstrated familiarity with their individual cases.

While survivors welcomed the pope’s words and empathy, several pressed for tangible follow-through. Jerome Guillement, who has written about abuse he suffered as a teenager, said the pope recognised the systemic factors that allow abuse to persist, even as he framed perpetrators as individuals. Veronique Garnier, another attendee, said she found aspects of the Mass troubling but felt encouraged by the private meeting.

Local leaders have pinned hopes on the papal visit to help repair the Church’s reputation in France after a 2021 independent inquiry estimated some 330,000 children were abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades. The Vatican also said the pope discussed the abuse scandals in a closed-door session with French bishops the same day. Pope Leo was scheduled to visit Metz next before returning to Rome.