Pope Leo Urges French Bishops to Confront Abuse

Pope Leo XIV privately met seven adult abuse survivors in Lourdes on Sunday and embraced Jean-Marie Delbos, abused at Notre-Dame de Betharram. Delbos said: "When he saw the state I was in, he took me into his arms," calling it "an extraordinary moment." A 2021 French inquiry estimated about 330,000 minors abused by clergy or Church-connected people over 70 years, with around 3,000 alleged perpetrators. The compensation system has recommended more than €20 million to survivors. The stop was day three of Leo's four-day visit, the first official papal trip to France in nearly two decades. He told France's bishops: "You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy or within an ecclesial context" and "It is important to persevere along the path you have begun." Jerome Guillement said the pope sees perpetrators as individuals but a systemic dimension within the institution allowing abuse to continue. About 150,000 attended Sunday Mass in Lourdes; nearly 800,000 attended Paris events Saturday. Monsignor Pierre-Antoine Bozo said two of seven participants were proposed by survivors' organizations. An open letter in Libération criticized Church selection of attendees. CONTESTED: none found among rated outlets. The Diocese of Lourdes covered Father Marko Rupnik's mosaics with aluminum panels; he is accused of sexually assaulting at least 20 women and awaits trial in a Vatican court.