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Pope Leo has urged French Catholic bishops to root out the “scourge” of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and to maintain the “greatest vigilance” in protecting minors.
The Pope delivered the message during a private meeting with bishops at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France, on the third day of his four-day official visit to the country, Reuters reported.
He was due to meet abuse survivors privately later on Sunday, after celebrating Mass before thousands of worshippers at the Lourdes shrine.
“You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy or within an ecclesial context,” Pope Leo told the bishops.
“It is important to persevere along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance,” he added.
Inquiry found hundreds of thousands of victims
The meeting of senior Church leaders was held behind closed doors, with the Pope’s remarks later released to reporters.
A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as children in France over a 70-year period.
The Lourdes visit followed a day after an estimated 700,000 people gathered at Paris’s Place de la Concorde to hear the pontiff speak. Large crowds cheered and waved as he travelled along the Champs-Élysées Avenue in an open-topped popemobile.
Pope Leo also met French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
Declining church attendance in France
During Saturday’s Mass in Paris, the Pope called on Catholics not to keep their faith to themselves but to “let it overflow so that those you meet may be refreshed”.
Addressing young people, he described them as “today’s Church” and praised their enthusiasm, energy, commitment and contribution to Christian communities.
Regular church attendance in France has fallen from 35% of the population in 1960 to less than 5% today. The number of priests has also declined by two-thirds, from 25,000 in 1990 to fewer than 9,000.
At the same time, signs of renewed interest in religious tradition have emerged in recent years. The number of adult baptisms more than doubled over five years, reaching 10,000 in 2025.
Later on Sunday, Pope Leo was scheduled to meet staff and residents at a health facility in Lourdes before taking part in an evening torchlight procession.
It is his first official visit to France since he was chosen to lead the Roman Catholic Church in May 2025.
