Pope Leo XIV called on the Catholic Church to acknowledge its failings and confront sexual abuse as he celebrated an open-air Mass in Lourdes on Sunday, the latest stop on his visit to France.
After drawing nearly 800,000 people in Paris on Saturday, the pontiff was greeted by further crowds in Lourdes, where around 150,000 people attended Sunday’s Mass.
In his homily, Leo urged the Church to take responsibility for wrongdoing within its ranks.
“The Church must have the courage to be the first to undergo this conversion. To heal the deep wounds, the acts of infidelity and the painful deviations committed in its midst, we must stand humbly under the Lord’s purifying gaze,” he said.
“Acknowledging our own faults is essential to our spiritual progress,” he added.
Pope meets French bishops amid scrutiny over abuse
Earlier on Sunday, Leo met privately with France’s bishops, praising their efforts to address sexual abuse while urging them to remain vigilant.
“In recent years, you have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse against minors committed by members of the clergy or in an ecclesial context,” he told them, according to remarks published by the Vatican.
“You have taken courageous measures to respond, through listening, the search for truth, justice, forgiveness, reparation and a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes.”
The Pope urged the bishops to continue their efforts while also supporting members of the clergy.
“It is important to continue along this path while maintaining the greatest vigilance. At the same time, your clergy needs to be supported and encouraged; I know it is the focus of your fatherly concern,” he said.
Survivors question selection process for papal meeting
The Pope was also scheduled to meet seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse on Sunday, including one person who was abused as an adult.
However, the meeting has drawn criticism from some survivors, who questioned how participants were selected.
In an open letter published by French newspaper Libération on the day Leo arrived in Paris, a group of survivors called on him to acknowledge the Church’s responsibility and criticised the decision to allow Church officials to select those attending the meeting rather than leaving the process to survivors’ organisations.
“The Church must relinquish its position as both judge and party to the proceedings,” they wrote.
Monsignor Pierre-Antoine Bozo, spokesperson for the French bishops’ conference, said two of the seven participants had been proposed by survivors’ organisations.
He explained that the Pope had deliberately chosen a small group to allow for a more personal discussion.
“When it comes to listening to them, you can’t have 50 people in front of you,” Bozo said.
“So I think that’s really what the pope chose: to listen so that we can act and respond more effectively.”
France’s Catholic Church confronts its abuse legacy
The French Catholic Church has faced intense scrutiny over its handling of sexual abuse.
An independent investigation published in 2021 estimated that approximately 330,000 children had been sexually abused over a 70-year period by priests, other Church workers and people associated with Catholic institutions.
The report identified around 3,000 alleged perpetrators among priests and Church workers.
Despite criticism of the report’s methodology and conclusions, French bishops established an independent compensation system for survivors.
To date, the system has recommended that the Church pay more than €20 million in compensation.