Pope Leo urges Spain's church to listen to abuse victims
Leo called on Catholic clergy to develop a "culture of care" to fight the "scourge of abuse." The pontiff also spoke to Spain's parliament where
Leo called on Catholic clergy to develop a "culture of care" to fight the "scourge of abuse." The pontiff also spoke to Spain's parliament where he emphasized dignity for all people, including migrants. Pope Leo XIV told Catholic bishops in Spain on Monday that the church must listen to abuse victims and offer them reparations. The meeting with Catholic bishops is the latest stop in the pope's week-long tour of Spain. It is his first trip to a European Union member outside of Italy. Leo on abuse: Spain's Catholic Church must commit to prevention and 'culture of care' A report released by Spain's human rights ombudsman in 2023 found that the Spanish clergy had sexually abused 200,000 children. The CEE apologized for the abuse but disputed figures cited in that report. "Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care," Leo said in an address to the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE). "Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing," Leo said. Leo spoke to the Spanish Episcopal Conference, which was established in 1966. Image: Vatican Media/Catholic Press Photo/ipa-agency/picture alliance The Spanish government and the Catholic Church earlier this year signed a deal to provide compensation to the victims of sexual abuse in church-run institutions.
Leo meets with 6 Catholic Church sex abuse survivors The pope also met with six survivors who experienced sexual abuse by the church. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope listened to the survivors with "affection and attention." Some organizations representing survivors held a demo outside the Vatican's embassy in Madrid and said they were not informed about the meeting. "Our associations are pleased that a group of victims from the reparation plan can be heard by the pope, but they do not represent all victims, and deep down they are being used by the church, by the bishops conference, to clean up the image of a Spanish church that has never been able to live up to its victims," Juan Cuatrecasas, spokesperson for the Robbed Childhood organization, said. The sexual abuse scandal comes as fewer Spaniards are identifying as Catholic. In the 1970's, 90% of Spaniards identified as Catholic, whereas in 2025 only 55% put that as their religious affiliation. Italy's Catholic abuse survivors demand end to cover-up To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Leo becomes first-ever pope to address Spanish parliament Leo on Monday also addressed Spain's parliament where he touched on topics such as migrants, international law, rearmament and artificial intelligence. The historic address, which received a seven-minute-long standing ovation from lawmakers, was the first-ever to the Spanish parliament by the leader of the Catholic Church.
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