Pope Leo XIV to Meet Abuse Survivors Privately in Lourdes After Staying Silent on Issue in France

Pope Leo XIV is set to meet privately with seven survivors of sexual violence within the Catholic Church during his visit to Lourdes, according to a report from Le Monde, after remaining publicly silent on the issue since arriving in France.

The private meeting, scheduled for Sunday, comes ahead of a Mass expected to draw around 150,000 worshippers, capping a day the report describes as heavily marked by the symbolism of the encounter with survivors.

Lourdes, one of Catholicism's most visited pilgrimage sites, has drawn a large gathering for the pope's visit, reflecting both the scale of the pilgrimage tradition there and heightened attention on how the pontiff will address the Church's handling of abuse cases.

The pope's decision to hold the survivor meeting privately, rather than as a public event, may limit public detail on what is discussed, though it follows a pattern used in past papal visits addressing abuse survivors.

The visit takes place against a backdrop of continued scrutiny of the Catholic Church in France following a major independent inquiry into decades of clerical abuse, which has kept pressure on Church leaders to demonstrate concrete accountability measures.