Pope Leo XIV Urges Spanish Church to Address Abuse Crisis, Meets Survivors During Historic Visit

Pope Leo XIV met for approximately one hour with six clergy sexual abuse survivors at the Vatican embassy in Madrid on Monday, the first such meeting during a foreign papal visit for Leo, though he had previously worked with abuse victims as a bishop in Peru. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope listened 'with affection and attention' and pledged that survivors' suggestions would serve as a foundation for further reform efforts. Earlier in the day, Leo addressed Spanish bishops, calling the abuse crisis a 'scourge' and urging the Church to commit to 'listening, truth, justice, reparation and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care.' Spain launched a government-backed reparations system earlier this year for abuse cases too old to prosecute, an arrangement notable for giving the state a strong role and final say in payouts. Several survivor advocacy groups, including the Robbed Childhood association, protested outside the Vatican embassy, arguing that the six survivors chosen did not represent all victims and that the meeting was being used by the Church to rehabilitate its image. Leo also reaffirmed the Church's right to confessional secrecy during his historic address to the Spanish parliament — the first ever by a pope — where he also spoke on migration, rearmament, and militarized artificial intelligence.