Pope tells French bishops to ‘root out’ sexual abuse during Lourdes visit

Pope Leo, speaking at a private meeting held at the Sanctuary of Our Holy Lady of Lourdes, told French bishops they must root out the “scourge” of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and “maintain the greatest vigilance”, the BBC reported.

The meeting came on the third day of the pontiff’s four-day visit to France. Held behind closed doors, the gathering of senior church leaders had its remarks released to reporters afterward, the BBC said.

The Pope spoke to bishops before saying Mass in front of thousands of worshippers at Lourdes, the news service reported. He was due to meet survivors of abuse privately later the same day, the BBC added.

“You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy or within an ecclesial context,” the Pope told the bishops, according to the BBC.

The BBC also recalled that a 2021 inquiry found that, over 70 years in France, clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as children. That finding was reported as the result of the official inquiry.

The BBC said that, on the previous day of his visit, an estimated 700,000 people had gathered at the Place de la Concorde in Paris to hear the Pope speak. The report said huge crowds cheered and waved while he rode down the Champs-Élysées Avenue, greeting followers from his open-topped popemobile.

The BBC added that on Friday the Pope met French President Emmanuel Macron.

All details in this article are taken from reporting by the BBC. For the original report, see BBC News.