Pope to Meet Abuse Survivors in Latin America

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his upcoming trip to Latin America, which will include visits to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The Vatican confirmed the plan on Tuesday.

The specific timing and locations for these meetings were not disclosed, but the Vatican indicated that several encounters are planned. The trip, set to take place from November 6-17, is proceeding as scheduled despite Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer surgery on October 13, which had raised questions about its feasibility.

This planned engagement continues a practice established by Pope Leo XIV's two immediate predecessors. He previously met with abuse survivors in Spain in June and more recently in France. Ahead of the French visit, the Vatican preemptively confirmed the meeting, a shift from the previous custom of confirming such meetings only after they occurred.

"These meetings reflect the pope’s desire to express his solidarity with those who have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of this violence, to work with them to build paths to healing that are accessible to anyone in need, and to ensure that the church is a safe and spiritually healthy place that lives out and communicates the Gospel," a Vatican statement read Tuesday.

Pope Leo XIV has personal ties to Peru, having served as a missionary priest there for two decades. During his time in Peru, he witnessed firsthand the impact of abuse on victims. As a bishop, he was designated by the Peruvian bishops' conference to hear from victims of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, an influential religious movement found to have engaged in abusive practices. In 2025, Pope Francis, influenced by the work of then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, made the decision to suppress the movement.

Argentina, Pope Francis's home country, has experienced a significant reckoning with clerical abuse, and victims there have urged Vatican action, including addressing cases in which Pope Francis was personally involved.