During a high-stakes seven-day apostolic visit to Spain, Pope Leo XIV opened a pivotal chapter of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with clergy sexual violence on Monday, forcefully condemning the decades-long crisis as an enduring “scourge” ahead of a closed-door meeting with abuse survivors. Speaking to the country’s College of Bishops ahead of the expected gathering at the Vatican’s Madrid apostolic nunciature, the head of the global Catholic Church outlined a clear path forward for the institution. “Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care,” the pontiff said. He added that every person wounded by abuse must “be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing.”
The planned meeting has already sparked controversy, however, as multiple Spanish victim advocacy groups say they have been locked out of the session. Speaking to Agence France-Presse outside the nunciature, Juan Cuatrecasas, spokesperson for leading survivor association Infancia Robada (Stolen Childhood), expressed deep disappointment with the exclusion. “We are disappointed that the pope, instead of listening to a sufficiently large and solid representation of victims, prefers to leave us out,” Cuatrecasas said. “We are going to keep pushing until the end, insisting that the Pope has to see us, has to hear us, we have a voice.”
Vatican officials have declined to release detailed information about the meeting’s guest list or format ahead of time, citing a commitment to “respect for the victims” as the reason for withholding details ahead of the gathering. In pre-visit remarks to reporters aboard his flight to Madrid Saturday, the 70-year-old pontiff acknowledged that the clergy sexual abuse crisis remains “an open wound” for the global Church. Official data underscores the scale of the crisis in Spain: a 2023 report from the Spanish national ombudsman estimates that roughly 200,000 minors have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy in the country since 1940. After years of criticism over institutional opacity and reluctance to address the crisis, the Spanish government under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the Spanish Catholic Church reached a landmark agreement in March to provide financial compensation to survivors.
Earlier on Monday, Pope Leo made history as he delivered an unprecedented address to the Spanish parliament, earning a lengthy standing ovation from assembled legislators. In his speech, the pontiff touched on a range of pressing global and domestic issues, starting with calls for collective global action on migration. He framed irregular migration as a “tragic drama” that requires open, compassionate policy, urging Spanish lawmakers to create “safe and legal pathways” for migrants and ensure new arrivals receive “a respectful welcome and real opportunities for integration.”
His remarks aligned with the relatively liberal immigration stance advanced by Sanchez’s left-wing government, which has faced growing political pressure on the issue from the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox, now the third-largest political force in the Spanish legislature. The pope’s visit will include a stop at the Canary Islands, a major entry point for irregular migrants traveling from Africa to Europe, where he will honor those who have died during the dangerous sea crossing.
The pontiff also used his parliamentary address to reaffirm longstanding Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, calling for protection of life “from conception to its natural end.” His comment comes as Sanchez’s government has implemented progressive social policies including the legalization of euthanasia under regulated conditions, and is pushing to enshrine abortion access in the Spanish constitution. Reiterating his well-documented anti-war position, which has drawn sharp criticism from former U.S. President Donald Trump — who has also attacked Sanchez for the same stance — Pope Leo called for de-escalation across global conflict zones, arguing that diplomatic dialogue must replace military escalation and rearmament. “Weapons may impose a temporary silence but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace,” he said.
Monday’s parliamentary address came one day after the pope celebrated a massive open-air Mass in central Madrid that drew more than 1.5 million worshippers. The remainder of his visit will include a series of high-profile engagements: on Wednesday, he will bless the newly completed tower of Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia, the unfinished Antoni Gaudí masterpiece that recently earned the title of the world’s tallest church. The visit will conclude with stops in the Canary Islands next Thursday and Friday, where Prime Minister Sanchez will join the pontiff for public events.