Vatican News / Karol Darmoros
Listening to the abused
Returning from his apostolic journey to France, Leo XIV was asked about his meeting with seven survivors of sexual abuse. The Holy Father’s conversation with the survivors took place on Sunday in Lourdes. Journalist Cyriac Zeller from I.Media recalled their statements, according to which the Pope spoke about the systemic nature of abuse in the Church.
The Pope emphasized above all the need to listen to survivors and accompany them.
“I asked them to help me also express to other survivors the readiness—mine and the Church’s—to listen to them and to accompany them in their search for healing, acknowledging the pain inflicted on their lives because of the situation of sexual abuse,” he said.
An important distinction
Leo XIV admitted that during the meeting, some of the participants spoke about systemic sexual abuse. However, he proposed a more precise distinction.
“Personally, I prefer to express it differently, although I spoke about certain structures in the Church that sometimes, so to speak, as a system, allowed sexual abuse to happen. But I think it is important to make a distinction,” he pointed out.
He added that sexual abuse “is primarily a human problem.” In the case of the Church, however, its consequences take on an additional dimension.
“When it happens in the Church, it takes on a completely new dimension, because the life of faith of these people is deeply wounded and sometimes even destroyed,” the Pope said.
The responsibility of the Church
Leo XIV indicated that it is precisely for this reason that the Church bears a special responsibility toward survivors. As he explained, the goal is to accompany these individuals and help them seek healing.
The Pope noted that during the meeting they discussed both the responsibility of the Church and its role in the process of healing from the experience of harm.
