Pope Leo Calls Clergy Sexual Abuse a “Scourge” During Spain Visit

PHOTO: By Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikipedia.

Editor’s note: SurvivorsRights.com generally covers sexual abuse litigation, survivor resources and institutional accountability developments within the United States. However, we believe this story warrants coverage because of the immense gravity of clergy sexual abuse worldwide, and the continuing relevance of Catholic Church abuse cases to survivors and families in the U.S.

Pope Leo XIV denounced clergy sexual abuse as a “scourge” during a recent visit to Spain, calling on the Catholic Church to respond to survivors with “listening, truth, justice, reparation” and stronger prevention efforts, CBS News reported per Reuters.

“One of the most painful encounters is with those who have been wounded precisely by those who were supposed to care for them, including members of the clergy,” the pope said Monday, according to Reuters.

The first U.S.-born pope made the remarks during a meeting with Spanish bishops, ahead of an expected private meeting with clergy abuse survivors in Madrid.

“Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing,” Pope Leo said.

The Vatican said the pope would meet privately with survivors during the visit, but did not release details in advance, citing respect for victims. Some survivor advocacy groups in Spain criticized the process, saying they were excluded from the meeting and wanted a broader group of victims to be heard.

Juan Cuatrecasas, a spokesman for Infancia Robada, which translates to Stolen Childhood, told AFP that survivors would continue pushing for the pope to meet with them.

“We have a voice,” he said.

Spain’s Clergy Abuse Crisis

Pope Leo’s comments came as Spain continues to confront the findings of a 2023 national ombudsman report that estimated roughly 200,000 minors may have suffered sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Spain since 1940.

The report was one of the most significant public reckonings with clergy abuse in Spain, where survivors and advocates have long accused Church leaders of delay, denial and inadequate transparency.

Spain’s government and Catholic Church officials signed an agreement in March to compensate victims, following years of criticism that the Church had failed to provide meaningful reparations.

Speaking to reporters before arriving in Madrid, Pope Leo described clergy sexual abuse as “still an open wound” for the Catholic Church.

U.S. Catholic Church Abuse Lawsuits Continue

Although Pope Leo’s remarks were made in Spain, they are relevant to survivors in the United States, where Catholic Church sexual abuse lawsuits remain active in multiple states.

In the U.S., many clergy abuse cases have been filed as individual civil lawsuits, often under state “lookback window” laws that temporarily revive older claims that would otherwise be barred by statutes of limitations. These laws have allowed survivors to bring cases decades after alleged abuse occurred.

Unlike some mass torts, Catholic Church sexual abuse litigation is generally not handled through a single nationwide multidistrict litigation, or MDL. Instead, cases are usually filed in state courts against dioceses, religious orders, schools, parishes or other Catholic institutions. Some dioceses have also entered bankruptcy proceedings after facing large numbers of abuse claims.

Survivors have alleged that Church institutions failed to protect children, transferred abusive clergy, concealed complaints or did not adequately warn families and parish communities about known risks.

Survivors Continue to Seek Accountability

For many survivors, clergy abuse cases are not only about financial compensation. They can also involve the search for records, public acknowledgment, institutional accountability and answers about who knew what, when they knew it and why more was not done to prevent abuse.

In Spain, survivor groups have called for broader transparency and greater inclusion in Church-led meetings and reparations efforts. In the U.S., similar concerns have been raised for years by survivors who say institutions must do more than apologize.

Pope Leo’s remarks reflect the Vatican’s continued public acknowledgment that clergy sexual abuse remains a profound crisis for the Catholic Church. The question for survivors and their families is whether those words will be followed by meaningful action, access to records, fair compensation systems and stronger safeguards for children.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Catholic Church sexual abuse continues to generate major lawsuits, settlements, reports and legislative action. In May, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, agreed to a $45 million settlement with people who said they were sexually abused as children by clergy and other church leaders. The settlement followed the diocese’s 2023 bankruptcy filing, which came after New York’s Child Victims Act allowed survivors to bring previously time-barred claims.

More recently, an independent report found that two priests who oversaw University of Notre Dame residence halls sexually abused several students during their tenure in the 1980s and 1990s, with both later continuing abuse in parish settings after leaving the university, OSV News reported.

In Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reports that lawmakers have advanced legislation that would create a two-year revival window for previously barred clergy sexual abuse lawsuits against institutions and supervisors accused of enabling or covering up abuse. The Diocese of Providence has opposed the legislation, arguing that it is unconstitutional and could create serious financial consequences for the diocese.