Pope Leo XIV to Meet Abuse Survivors in Latin America
The 12-day trip continues a pastoral line begun in Madrid and Lourdes: closeness to the wounded and a Church safe for the Gospel.
The Holy See Press Office said on October 27 that meetings with victims of abuse by clergy and other Church members are planned during Pope Leo XIV’s 12-day journey to Latin America.
The encounters respond to the Holy Father’s desire to express closeness to those who have suffered, to build paths to healing, and to ensure that the Church is a safe place that proclaims the Gospel.
Continuity With Earlier Apostolic Visits
Pope Leo XIV has already met with abuse survivors on previous foreign trips this year. On June 8, during his journey to Spain, he received survivors in Madrid. The group came from Proyecto Repara. The Pope assured them of the Church’s commitment to healing.
On September 27, during his trip to France, he held a two-hour meeting with survivors in Lourdes. Participants described the encounter as intense. The Holy Father called for the utmost vigilance and determination in truth, justice, forgiveness, and reparation.
A Scourge That Wounds Faith
Pope Leo XIV has described abuse as a scourge, a scandal, and a real wound. He has noted that the crime acquires a further dimension when it takes place within the Church, because it wounds the faith of the people affected.
The meetings planned for Latin America thus form part of an ongoing pastoral priority: to stand with those who have been harmed, to open paths of healing and reparation, and to keep the Church a place of safety from which the Gospel can be proclaimed with credibility.