The core message
Pope Leo is currently on a four-day trip to France, and he isn't pulling any punches regarding the institutional trauma within the church. While visiting the Sanctuary of Our Holy Lady of Lourdes, he sat down with French bishops and told them straight up: they need to root out the “scourge” of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. He urged them to keep “the greatest vigilance” as they move forward.
The context
Real talk: this isn't just a random statement. The French church has been reeling since a 2021 inquiry revealed that roughly 330,000 people were abused by clergy or lay members as children over a 70-year period. It’s giving generational trauma, and the Church is lowkey struggling to reconcile with this past. After the meeting, the Pope met with seven survivors, one of whom, Jean-Marie Delbos, said the encounter was “extraordinary” and that he never expected to have a Pope actually listen to his case.
Beyond the crisis
It’s been a busy few days for the pontiff. He also spent time in Paris, where he was greeted by massive crowds—we’re talking about 700,000 people at the Place de la Concorde. He met with French President Emmanuel Macron and reached out to younger followers, telling them that they are “today’s Church.” While the number of regular worshippers in France has tanked since the 60s, there’s actually a bit of a plot twist: adult baptisms have more than doubled over the last five years, suggesting some folks are still looking to the tradition for vibes and community.
Why it matters
Sexual abuse in the Church has been a massive, global L for decades. Following the exposure of systemic cover-ups in the U.S. and Canada back in the day, the Church has been under intense pressure to stop the cycle. Pope Leo is continuing the work started by his predecessor, Pope Francis, but the reality is that the institution is still cleaning up a massive, decades-old mess.
