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

Head of the Roman Catholic Church holds ’emotional’ two-hour gathering with 7 maltreatment victims successful French municipality of Lourdes.

Pope Leo XIV has thanked a radical of survivors of clerical maltreatment “for their achy testimony” and “reaffirmed his commitment” to extremity harm by Catholic priests astatine a gathering successful southwestern France, the Vatican said.

The person of the world’s 1.4 cardinal Catholics is connected a four-day sojourn to France.

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On Sunday, the pontiff visited the pilgrimage municipality of Lourdes, wherever helium privately met 7 survivors of kid abuse, present adults, and promised to further efforts to betterment the Church successful the aftermath of the global intersexual maltreatment scandal.

The radical said successful a aboriginal quality league that the gathering was affectional and touching.

“When helium saw the authorities I was in, helium took maine into his arms,” subsister Jean-Marie Delbos said, adding, “It was an bonzer moment.”

The 80-year-old was abused arsenic a pupil astatine the adjacent boarding schoolhouse of Notre-Dame de Betharram, wherever unit person been accused of carnal and intersexual maltreatment implicit respective decades.

The survivors said they felt heard and that they were impressed by Leo’s compassion and cognition of their idiosyncratic cases.

But they hoped the words would beryllium accompanied by action.

Jerome Guillement, who has written astir a clergyman abusing him arsenic a teenager, said astatine the quality league that the pope understood the “systemic” quality of intersexual maltreatment successful the Church.

“From his constituent of view, the perpetrators are individuals, but what allows it to proceed is the systemic magnitude wrong the institution,” helium said.

“He surely believes that the Church has done a large woody successful France, but helium besides believes that the Church successful France inactive has a tremendous magnitude near to do.”

Pope Leo participates successful a candlelight procession astatine the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes successful Lourdes, France, September 27, 2026, arsenic portion of his four-day apostolic travel to France [Stephane Mahe/Reuters]

Local leaders hoped Leo’s sojourn would assistance repair the Church’s lasting aft a 2021 independent inquiry found that immoderate 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and laic leaders implicit 7 decades.

The pope told an estimated 150,000 radical gathered for a Mass successful a tract adjacent the famed Catholic shrine successful Lourdes earlier connected Sunday that the Church indispensable person the courageousness to look its past.

Veronique Garnier, different subsister who met with the pontiff, said she had recovered the Mass, successful which Leo referred to maltreatment without straight apologising for it, troubling and wondered wherefore she had attended.

But she said she was encouraged by her gathering with Leo.

“I bash so judge determination is anticipation – anticipation that determination tin beryllium alteration and genuinely listening to america astatine a heavy level, alternatively than conscionable superficially with beauteous words that are ne'er followed by immoderate existent action,” she said.

Leo besides spoke astir the maltreatment scandals successful a closed-door gathering with French bishops connected Sunday, according to a Vatican-provided text.

He was expected to sojourn the northeastern metropolis of Metz connected Monday earlier returning to Rome the aforesaid day.