Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy abuse during a four-day trip to France in September, the Vatican announced Friday. The trip, scheduled for September 25-28, will also include a visit to UNESCO headquarters in Paris, a meeting with French bishops in Lourdes, and an interreligious gathering in Metz.
This meeting with abuse survivors marks a significant focus for the pontiff. The Vatican indicated that the victims themselves will be involved in the preparations for this encounter, with the specific timing and location to be determined later. During his recent visit to Spain, Pope Leo met with six abuse survivors, a country where the Catholic hierarchy has recently begun to confront its history of abuse and cover-ups.
A 2021 report in France estimated that 330,000 children were sexually abused by church personnel over a 70-year period. Pope Leo recently signaled his commitment to combating clergy sexual abuse by appointing French Bishop Thibault Verny to lead the Vatican’s child protection advisory commission.
The France trip will be Pope Leo’s fourth foreign voyage this year. Earlier travels included a day trip to Monaco in March, visits to four African nations in April, and trips to Spain and the Canary Islands in June. The Vatican also confirmed that the pontiff will undertake his first trip to Latin America in November, with planned visits to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.
In Paris, Pope Leo is scheduled to meet with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. He will address authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps before delivering a speech at UNESCO headquarters. The pontiff will also celebrate vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral and conclude the day with a prayer vigil for young people at the national stadium.
The second day of the visit will focus on social inclusion, active participation, and new converts. Pope Leo will visit the Maison Bakhita center for social support and integration. He will also meet with a synodal assembly that aims to involve laypeople in church matters and will engage with recently baptized Catholics.
Later, the pontiff will travel to Lourdes, a significant pilgrimage site. There, he will pray at the Grotto of the Apparitions and meet with staff and the sick at the Accueil Notre-Dame. The visit to Lourdes will conclude with the traditional Rosary and torchlight procession.
The final stop is Metz, near the borders of Luxembourg and Germany. Pope Leo will participate in an interreligious meeting at a conference center named for Robert Schuman, a French statesman recognized as a founder of European integration. Schuman, a Catholic, was declared “venerable” in 2021, a step in the process toward sainthood.
Unlike his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who largely avoided major European centers of Christianity during his papacy, Pope Leo appears to be placing greater emphasis on the experiences of European faithful. Pope Francis visited France twice, but neither visit was a state visit to Paris; he made a day trip to Strasbourg in 2014 and visited Marseille in 2023 for a conference on migration.