Pope Leo calls on church to heal wounds before meeting abuse survivors in France

Pope Leo XIV told an estimated crowd of 150,000 near Lourdes on Sunday, during his four-day visit to France, that the Catholic church must heal deep wounds and painful errors before he privately meets seven survivors of child sexual abuse by French clergy. He did not directly cite abuse scandals in France that affected at least 330,000 children over seven decades, but urged French bishops to keep up vigilance against clerical abuse.