Pope Leo XIV is currently on a four-day official visit to France, the first such trip in 18 years. After spending two days in Paris, where he drew hundreds of thousands of worshippers, the pontiff traveled to the southwestern pilgrimage town of Lourdes. He is the third pope to visit the site, following Benedict XVI and John Paul II.
While in Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle and celebrated an open-air mass at the Lourdes Sanctuary. During a speech to a crowd in a large field, he urged the Catholic Church to admit its failings and reckon with its "painful errors" to heal "deep wounds" inflicted within its ranks. He also told high-ranking clerics that French bishops had taken "courageous" steps when facing the "painful scourge of abuse of minors."
The visit includes a private meeting with seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse. This follows a French inquiry which found that members of the Church had abused around 330,000 people as minors over seven decades. While French bishops were once at the forefront of this issue by acknowledging the systemic nature of the abuse, some associations now denounce a step backwards.
Following his time in Lourdes, the pontiff is scheduled to travel to Metz in northeastern France on Monday.