Pope Leo XIV meets seven French clergy abuse victims in Lourdes

September 28, 2026 at 02:46 AM2 min

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Pope Leo XIV met with seven victims of sexual abuse by French Catholic clergy on Sunday in Lourdes. The private meetings lasted about two hours at the bishop's residence of the Tarbes-et-Lourdes diocese. The encounter came during the pope's four-day visit to France, his first since 2008.

Key Facts

Pope Leo XIV met with four men and three women who were victims of sexual abuse by French Catholic clergy.
The meetings took place at the bishop's residence of the Tarbes-et-Lourdes diocese and lasted about two hours.
The pope also met with members of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of France and thanked them for their efforts against abuse.
Leo XIV's visit to France, which began on September 25, is the first papal visit to the country since Benedict XVI's in September 2008.

Private Meetings with Victims

Pope Leo XIV met individually with each of the seven victims, listening to their stories and their proposals for preventing such crimes in the future. The meetings began after 5:30 p.m. local time and lasted approximately two hours. With some of the victims, the pope prayed for several minutes. After 7:00 p.m., Leo XIV gathered all the victims in one room and thanked them for the meeting.

Address to French Bishops

During his visit to Lourdes, the pope met with members of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of France. He thanked them for actively addressing the painful problem of violence against minors by clergy in recent years. Leo XIV praised their bold measures and urged them to continue with maximum vigilance.

Four-Day Visit to France

The pope's trip to France began on September 25 and is his first official visit to the country since September 2008, when Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church. On September 25, Leo XIV held an evening service at Notre-Dame Cathedral and a prayer vigil with youth at the Stade de France in Paris. The next day, he celebrated Mass at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, attended by 700,000 people. On September 27, the pope arrived in Lourdes, one of Europe's main pilgrimage centers, where he also celebrated Mass and led a torchlight procession. On September 28, he is scheduled to address European Union leaders in Metz.