The head of the Catholic Church called on his institution to heal the deep wounds and 'painful mistakes' caused by clergy during a large open-air Mass at the Lourdes sanctuary in France. Pope Leo XIV also used a closed-door meeting with French bishops to address systemic clerical abuse scandals and pledged direct action to prevent further harm to the faithful.

The public declarations followed a meeting on Sunday in Lourdes where the pontiff met with 7 survivors of clerical sex abuse. During that session, Leo XIV embraced one 80 year old survivor who later described the interaction as extraordinary, as the Pope reaffirmed his commitment to ending priest-led abuse.