Pope Leo XIV met five survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Buenos Aires on Monday 9 November, hearing their testimonies in a meeting that lasted more than an hour, according to Reuters and the Religion Media Centre. The Vatican said the Pope listened to each person tell their story and reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening safeguarding in the Church.
The meeting was the first of several expected encounters with survivors during the Pope's 12-day tour of South America, which runs until 17 November, according to Reuters. The Vatican said the survivors also put forward proposals for strengthening paths of healing in the Church, and the Religion Media Centre reports that the encounter comes amid calls from survivors for stronger accountability, including a global zero-tolerance policy for clergy facing credible allegations of abuse. The Vatican has not named the survivors, and this article does not identify them.
Abuse scandals have shaken the Catholic Church across Latin America, a region that has long been a stronghold of the faith but where the Church has recently been losing ground to fast-growing evangelical denominations, according to Reuters. The meeting in Buenos Aires took place on the Pope's first full day in Argentina, after he arrived from Uruguay, where he ended his visit with a Mass on Sunday.
Pope Leo, the first United States-born pope, is on a three-country tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, according to Reuters. The Religion Media Centre notes that the Vatican has described the survivors' meetings as a planned part of the trip, with further meetings expected as the tour continues into Peru, the country where the Pope served as a missionary priest and bishop for around two decades.
Whether the meetings lead to concrete changes in how the Church handles abuse cases will be watched closely by survivors' groups, who have pressed for a clear zero-tolerance rule. For now, the Buenos Aires meeting stands as the most direct engagement of the tour so far with the Church's abuse crisis, and the Pope's words in the room — that he would listen and strengthen safeguarding — are the measure against which survivors will judge what follows.