Pope Leo XIV to Lead Lourdes Mass, Meet Clergy Abuse Survivors

Pope Leo XIV is preparing to celebrate Mass on the prairie beside Lourdes' main basilica before an estimated 150,000 people, following an early meeting with French bishops on Sunday.

Lourdes, in southern France near the Spanish border, became a major pilgrimage destination after the Catholic Church officially recognised visions of the Virgin Mary reported by a young girl in 1858. The shrine draws millions of pilgrims each year, particularly sick and disabled believers seeking a cure from the spring water in the grotto where the visions are said to have occurred. The Church has confirmed 72 alleged miracles at the site since 1858.

During his visit, the Pope is scheduled to meet seven survivors of clergy sexual abuse and offer an apology. A 2021 report estimated that 330,000 children in France had been abused over seven decades by church personnel.

Leo arrived in Lourdes on Saturday night from Paris and immediately prayed inside the Grotto of Apparitions, where he also drank from the spring.