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Pope Leo XIV urged French bishops to maintain the greatest vigilance against the painful scourge of abuse of minors by clergy during a private meeting in Lourdes on September 27, 2026. “You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy or within an ecclesial context,” he told the bishops according to a text released by the Vatican. “It is important to persevere along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance,” the first American pope added in remarks that came hours before a scheduled closed-door encounter with seven abuse survivors.
The pontiff later addressed an estimated 150,000 people gathered near the famed Catholic shrine, calling on the Church to admit its own failings and heal deep wounds inflicted within its ranks. “In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within the Church, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze,” Pope Leo XIV stated according to a Reuters dispatch from the event. Local Church leaders expressed hope that the visit would help repair the institution’s standing in France after years of scrutiny over abuse cases.
A 2021 independent commission report found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 minors in France over 70 years, a figure that has continued to shape the French Catholic Church’s response to the crisis. According to an AP News report from 2024, nearly 500 victims had received financial compensation through an independent national authority established following that inquiry. The average compensation amount stood at roughly 35,000 euros per approved claim in the preceding year, with some victims awarded the maximum of 60,000 euros.
The pope’s meeting with the seven survivors, who included individuals abused in Catholic schools, parishes and religious congregations, formed a central part of the four-day apostolic journey to France. The French Bishops’ Conference noted that the encounter involved both those abused as minors and as adults. Campaigners have pressed for further concrete actions beyond apologies, including expanded reparations and prevention measures across the country’s dioceses.
Pope Leo XIV has previously addressed the abuse issue during trips to other countries, including a June 2026 visit to Spain where he told bishops they must listen to survivors and offer reparations. The Lourdes visit also took place against the backdrop of the shrine covering mosaics created by Marko Rupnik, a priest accused of sexual and spiritual abuse who is undergoing a canonical trial at the Vatican. Shrine officials ordered the artworks hidden in 2025 as a pastoral decision to acknowledge the accusations.
French Church officials have signed protocols with prosecutors in nearly all dioceses to facilitate reporting of abuse allegations, according to data compiled in recent national updates. In 2024 alone, 181 people who were minors at the time of alleged abuse came forward in one set of French diocesan reports, alongside additional cases involving adults. The developments reflect ongoing efforts by the Church in France and globally to confront a crisis that a 2019 Vatican meeting under then-Pope Francis described as a scourge requiring systematic eradication from all societies.
