Pope Leo XIV addressed approximately 150,000 people at a gathering near the Catholic shrine of Lourdes on Sunday, urging the Church to reckon with its past and acknowledge internal failings. The pontiff spoke of the need to address “deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors” within the institution, framing healing as dependent on placing the Church under “the Lord’s purifying gaze.”
Following the address, the pope held a private meeting with seven survivors of child sexual abuse perpetrated by French clergy. The survivors indicated that the pope listened to their accounts, demonstrated familiarity with their individual cases, and acknowledged that additional work remained necessary to address the matter. Five of the seven survivors subsequently held a press conference in Lourdes, with one survivor, Jean-Marie Delbos, describing the encounter as “extraordinary.”
The meeting occurred amid significant historical context regarding abuse allegations within French Catholic institutions. An independent inquiry completed in 2021 estimated that approximately 330,000 children experienced sexual abuse over seven decades by priests or other Catholic figures in France, with a separate report noting systematic cover-up practices. More recently, about 2,000 individuals have filed applications for reparations through France’s Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation.
During his homily, Pope Leo also addressed medical end-of-life practices, characterizing assisted dying as immoral “false compassion” in alignment with Catholic Church doctrine regarding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. This statement followed France’s adoption of legislation the previous month permitting medical aid in dying for incurably ill adults.
The papal visit, the first official visit to France in 18 years, occurred amid controversy. A group of survivors published an open letter expressing skepticism about the visit’s impact and questioning the selection process for the seven individuals meeting the pope, characterizing them as “carefully selected” rather than independently chosen by survivor advocacy organizations.
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