Pope Leo in France vows to combat violence against children — Jerusalem Post

Pope Leo met in the French city of Lourdes with seven people who survived abuse by members of the Catholic clergy and reaffirmed his intention to prevent such harm from being repeated against others. According to the Jerusalem Post, the meeting lasted about two hours and took place during the pontiff's four-day visit to France.

According to the Vatican, the pope spoke privately with each of the survivors and listened to their proposals for strengthening protection mechanisms in the church. In a Vatican statement, it was noted that Leo thanked the participants for their painful testimonies and assured them of his commitment to ensuring that the harm they experienced is not repeated for others.

Expectations of concrete steps

After the meeting, its participants described the conversation as emotional and moving. They said they felt the pontiff's attentive approach, noting his compassion and awareness of their individual cases. At the same time, the survivors expressed hope that the pope's words would be supported by concrete actions.

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One participant in the meeting, Jérôme Guilleman, said that the pope acknowledges what the French church has done, but believes that it still has a significant amount of work ahead. Another participant, Véronique Garnier, said that after her personal conversation with the pope, she felt hope for change and for survivors to be heard more deeply rather than formally.

A call to acknowledge mistakes

Earlier that day, during a mass near the sanctuary in Lourdes, which was attended by an estimated 150,000 people, the pope called on the church to have the courage to look at its own past. He also discussed abuse scandals at a closed meeting with French bishops and urged them to strengthen protection measures and maintain the utmost vigilance.

According to a report released in France in 2021, about 330,000 French children were abused over seven decades by Catholic clergy and laypeople associated with the church.