Leo XIV plans several meetings with clergy abuse survivors in Latin America

Nov. 6-17 trip proceeds after Leo’s Oct. 13 lung cancer surgery

The Vatican said Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV, the American pope, will meet survivors of clergy sexual abuse during a Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The statement said “several meetings are planned,” but did not specify when or where the encounters would take place, suggesting more than one encounter.

The trip is going ahead as planned despite Leo’s Oct. 13 lung cancer surgery, which had put the journey in question.

Leo met abuse survivors in Spain in June and most recently in France, continuing a practice followed by his two recent predecessors.

For the France trip, the Vatican confirmed the meeting beforehand rather than after the meeting took place. The earlier practice had been to confirm the encounter only afterward.

Leo spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru and saw first-hand the effects of abuse on victims. As the designated bishop in the Peruvian bishops conference, he heard victims of the influential but abusive Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

The former Cardinal Robert Prevost was instrumental in Pope Francis’ decision in 2025 to suppress the movement.

Pope Francis’ native Argentina has also seen abuse survivors demand Vatican action, including on cases in which Francis was personally involved, according to The Associated Press.

“These meetings reflect the pope’s desire to express his solidarity with those who have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of this violence, to work with them to build paths to healing that are accessible to anyone in need, and to ensure that the church is a safe and spiritually healthy place that lives out and communicates the Gospel,” according to a Vatican statement Tuesday.

The Vatican left the timing and locations of the encounters unannounced, but confirmed that several survivor meetings will take place and that the trip remains on schedule after the surgery.

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