Pope Calls for Justice for 200K Abuse Survivors in Spain

Pope Leo XIV used his first trip to an EU nation outside Italy to demand the Catholic Church finally listen to survivors of sexual abuse.

During his week-long tour of Spain, Leo met privately with six survivors and told the Spanish Episcopal Conference that "every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing." A 2023 report found Spanish clergy had abused 200,000 children over decades.

The meeting comes months after Spain's government and the Catholic Church signed a deal to compensate victims of abuse in church-run institutions. Leo called sexual violence an "open wound" for the church and urged a commitment to prevention and a "culture of care."

Why This Inspires

While no words can undo such profound harm, Leo's willingness to meet survivors face to face and publicly acknowledge the church's failures represents a shift toward transparency. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope listened with "affection and attention."

Some survivor advocacy groups held demonstrations outside the Vatican's embassy in Madrid, saying they weren't informed about the meetings. Juan Cuatrecasas from Robbed Childhood organization said victims are being used "to clean up the image of a Spanish church that has never been able to live up to its victims."

In a historic first, Leo also addressed Spain's parliament for over five minutes to a seven-minute standing ovation. He touched on migration, calling it a "tragic drama" that "challenges the conscience of nations" and urged safe, legal pathways for immigrants.

The pontiff also called for diplomatic courage to resolve the Iran-Israel conflict and warned about the dangers of militarized artificial intelligence, urging "rigorous ethical vigilance" in its wartime use.

As fewer Spaniards identify as Catholic (down from 90% in the 1970s to 55% today), the church faces a reckoning between its past failures and its future relevance.

Accountability, when it finally arrives, opens the door to healing.