Pope Leo Hears Argentine Abuse Survivors’ Pain
After a vast open-air Mass, Pope Leo met five survivors, blessed them, and pledged stronger protection and care in the Church.
On Nov. 9, 2026, in Buenos Aires, Pope Leo XIV met privately for more than an hour with five people abused by clergy or Church institutions in Argentina. He listened to each of them individually in the afternoon, before traveling to the Catholic University of Argentina to meet representatives of the world of work.
The encounter followed a Mass at the Monument to the Spaniards attended by approximately 2.5 million people, local authorities said. The five survivors were presented by the local Church.
The Holy See Press Office said the pope listened to “their accounts, the painful experiences they had endured, and their suggestions for strengthening paths toward healing within the Church.” At the end he greeted them together, blessed them, and thanked them for “their testimony of faith.” He conveyed, “to them — and through them, to the other victims whom it was not possible to meet,” his “closeness and his commitment to strengthening measures for protection, well-being, welcome, and accompaniment within the Church.”
A first stop on a longer journey
This was the first such meeting of the pope’s South America trip. The Vatican had announced a victims’ encounter for the journey without giving details in advance. Pope Leo has also met victims during earlier visits to Spain in June 2026 and France in September 2026, though such meetings are not systematic on every papal itinerary.
Argentina has never carried out a nationwide investigation or public accounting of abuse comparable to those undertaken in the United States, Australia, France, and Germany. A U.S.-based watchdog lists nearly 100 priests, religious brothers, and women religious publicly accused of abusing minors or vulnerable adults in Argentina; other allegations remain under investigation. Argentine bishops have established a national safeguarding council and guidelines. Survivors continue to criticize the absence of a comprehensive national accounting and the limited information released on canonical proceedings.
Cases that shaped the national wound
Father Julio César Grassi, once a prominent priest who ran homes for disadvantaged children, was convicted in 2009 of sexually abusing and corrupting a minor and sentenced to 15 years. He remains imprisoned, with his sentence scheduled to end in May 2028. Prohibited from public ministry, he remains a priest pending a definitive Vatican decision. While archbishop of Buenos Aires, the future Pope Francis commissioned a four-volume study challenging the criminal case.
At the Antonio Próvolo Institute in Mendoza, deaf and hearing-impaired children were sexually abused between 2005 and 2016. Fathers Horacio Corbacho and Nicola Corradi were sentenced in 2019 to 45 and 42 years; Corradi later died under house arrest. Former nun Kumiko Kosaka was sentenced to 20 years in September.
The case most directly connected to Pope Francis concerns Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta, one of his first episcopal appointments. Zanchetta resigned as bishop of Orán in 2017 and was given a Vatican financial post. Francis later acknowledged he initially accepted Zanchetta’s defense against allegations involving sexual images found on his phone. An Argentine court convicted Zanchetta in 2022 of sexually abusing two seminarians and sentenced him to four years and six months. The conviction became final in February 2025; he received conditional release that September. He remains identified as bishop emeritus of Orán, and the Vatican has not announced its canonical outcome.