Pope Leo to Meet Abuse Survivors During Four-Day France Visit
Pope Leo XIV will meet clergy abuse survivors in France next month, part of a four-day visit covering Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.
The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his upcoming four-day trip to France, scheduled for September 25-28. The meeting, whose exact timing and location are yet to be announced, will involve the victims in its preparation, according to a brief Vatican statement.
The announcement comes as the French Catholic Church continues to grapple with a 2021 report estimating that 330,000 children were abused by church personnel over a 70-year period. The Pope recently underscored his commitment to addressing the issue by appointing French Bishop Thibault Verny to lead the Vatican's child protection advisory commission.
This will be the Pope's fourth foreign trip of the year, following visits to Monaco, four African nations, and Spain. The Vatican has also confirmed a November trip to Latin America, including Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.
The France itinerary begins in Paris on September 25, where the Pope will meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, address civil authorities and the diplomatic corps, and speak at UNESCO headquarters. He will celebrate vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral and hold a prayer vigil with young people at the national stadium.
The following day, the Pope will visit the Maison Bakhita social support center, meet with a synodal assembly involving laypeople, and greet recently baptized Catholics. He will then travel to Lourdes, where he will pray at the Grotto of the Apparitions, meet staff and patients at the Accueil Notre-Dame, and lead the traditional Rosary and torchlight procession.
The trip concludes in Metz, near the borders with Luxembourg and Germany, with an interreligious meeting at a conference center named after Robert Schuman, the Catholic French statesman declared "venerable" in 2021.
The visit marks a notable shift from the approach of the late Pope Francis, who avoided state visits to Paris during his pontificate, instead making shorter trips to Strasbourg and Marseille.