Pope Leo pledges further action to protect French abuse survivors

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed his commitment to protecting victims of clerical abuse and preventing further harm during a private meeting with seven survivors in Lourdes, France. The meeting took place on the third day of the pontiff’s four-day visit, his first official papal visit to France. The Vatican said Leo thanked the survivors for their painful testimony and expressed hope of working with them.

Jean-Marie Delbos, an 80-year-old survivor who was abused at a nearby boarding school, said the Pope embraced him after seeing his condition. Delbos described the encounter as an extraordinary moment and said the abuse had caused him to lose his faith. Jerome Guillement, who has written about being abused by a priest as a teenager, said Leo understood the systemic nature of abuse within the Church.

He said that while perpetrators were individuals, institutional conditions had allowed abuse to continue. The meeting followed Leo’s call to French bishops to continue addressing sexual and physical violence. In remarks released to the press, he said bishops had confronted the abuse of minors by clergy or within an ecclesial context and urged them to persevere.

A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 minors in France over 70 years. The supplied material does not give details of any new measures announced during the Pope’s meeting with survivors. During a service in Lourdes, Leo also opposed assisted dying, saying that legal permission did not necessarily make an act moral.

On Monday, the final day of his visit, he was expected to travel to Metz near the German border, where he would discuss hopes for peace in Europe.