Pope Leo XIV Meets Six Abuse Survivors in Peru, Vows Church Amends

Pope Leo XIV sat down with six victims of clerical abuse in Peru on Thursday, giving each of them a private hearing. The group included people tied to Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, the once-mighty lay society that his predecessor shut down. The Vatican said the pope spent more than an hour with them, listened to "their stories of suffering and their pain," and thanked them for their testimony. The encounter was personal for the 71-year-old pontiff. Before he became Leo XIV, Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was the bishop assigned to hear from SCV victims, and they said he backed their claims. He spent nearly two decades in Peru as a missionary and bishop. SCV, founded in the 1970s and spread across Latin America, was dissolved in 2025 by Pope Francis after years of allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, plus corruption. Earlier Thursday, Leo told Peru's bishops that abuse has inflicted "so much pain" and that the Church owes victims "amends," urging a "culture of prevention and protection." The Vatican already announced in April 2026 that it would open a "listening channel" in Lima for victims and use assets seized from SCV to compensate them. Victim Renzo Orbegozo, 50, told AFP the goal is "comprehensive reparation," citing psychological and medical care, social reintegration and what he described as financial assistance. The US non-profit Bishop Accountability piled on pressure just before the tour, presenting a Lima list of 77 Peruvian clergy it says were publicly accused of abusing minors. Co-director Anne Barrett Doyle called on Leo to enforce "zero tolerance" against abusers. The pope leads 1.4 billion Catholics and has not dodged sensitive subjects on this three-nation South American swing. Crowds lining the streets chanted his name, and children turned up dressed as popes and bishops to watch the popemobile roll past. At a Lima stadium vigil, he walked among some 60,000 young people as thousands raised phones like torches. Speaking later to around 40,000 people, he tore into "machismo" and called violence against women "a reality that wounds all of humanity," rejecting any "subordination of one spouse to the other." The six-day Peru leg runs from the deep Amazon to the Andes, with Cuzco sitting above 3,400 metres (11,000 feet) — a test for a pope weeks out of lung cancer surgery. He returns to Chiclayo, the northern city where he served as bishop for a decade. Pilgrim Pedro Campos called him "a member of our country" who knows what Peruvians need. Leo likened the Catholic mission to the Inca Trail's "steep ascents," warning it "is not to be walked alone" and that "walking together fosters communion."

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