Pope meets with 6 clergy abuse survivors in Spain, hopes to improve response

MADRID (AP) — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with six survivors of clergy intersexual maltreatment successful Madrid and vowed to see their suggestions for however the Catholic Church tin amended its effect to the crisis, the Vatican said.

The meeting, which followed successful the contented of popes gathering with maltreatment survivors during their overseas trips, lasted astir an hr and took spot astatine the Vatican embassy successful Madrid, the Vatican said successful a statement.

Spain’s Catholic hierarchy has lone precocious begun reckoning with its bequest of maltreatment and cover-up aft agelong dismissing the severity of the ungraded that came to airy acknowledgment to reporting by the newpaper El País.

During the meeting, the survivors told the pope their stories and recommendations for however the religion should respond, the Vatican said.

“The pope listened with affection and attention, assured them of his closeness — and that of the full religion assemblage — and pledged his committedness to ensuring that the suggestions received service arsenic a instauration for further efforts, truthful that the religion whitethorn genuinely beryllium a harmless and spiritually steadfast spot wherever wounds find comfortableness and healing,” said a connection from Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Ahead of the expected gathering with Leo, respective groups representing survivors that were not included said they were near successful the acheronian astir the encounter, and held a tiny protestation extracurricular the Vatican’s embassy successful Madrid.

“Our associations are pleased that a radical of victims from the reparation program tin beryllium heard by the pope, but they bash not correspond each the victims, and heavy down they are being utilized by the church, by the bishops conference, to cleanable up the representation of a Spanish religion that has ne'er been capable to unrecorded up to its victims,” said Juan Cuatrecasas, a spokesperson for the Robbed Childhood association.

Across the world, clergy intersexual maltreatment and cover-up scandals person rocked Catholic dioceses, damaging the church’s estimation much than 3 decades aft the situation archetypal erupted publically successful the West.

Leo addresses maltreatment to bishops and parliament

Before the meeting, Leo told Spanish bishops that they indispensable connection reparations to survivors and that the full religion assemblage should person an "ever much determined committedness to prevention and a civilization of care.”

“Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial assemblage is called to respond with listening, truth, justness reparation," Leo said. “Every wounded idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium capable to find sincere listening, welcome, extortion and existent paths to healing.”

Amid nationalist outrage implicit the maltreatment crisis, Spain launched a reparations strategy earlier this twelvemonth for clerical maltreatment cases excessively aged to beryllium prosecuted that requires the information of the Catholic Church and the Spanish government.

Other countries and churches person acceptable up reparations mechanisms to compensate survivors and supply therapy, but the Spanish 1 is antithetic successful that it gives the authorities a beardown relation successful the process and the last accidental successful payouts.

The system, which is not legally binding, has drawn praise and immoderate skepticism from advocacy groups and survivors. It gives radical a twelvemonth to apply.

Leo reaffirms church’s close to confessional secrecy

Leo besides reaffirmed the close of the Catholic Church to support secrecy involving the sacrament of confession, amid efforts successful Europe and elsewhere to unit Catholic priests to study maltreatment that they larn astir during the one-to-one conversations.

Independent investigations into clergy maltreatment astir the satellite person identified the seal of confession arsenic a large impediment to exposing and preventing abuse, and called for it to beryllium abolished. The investigations person documented however abusers utilized the confessional to solicit enactment from minors and past relied connected the seal of confession to support it secret.

In his code to the Spanish parliament Monday, Leo framed the close of the religion to support priest-penitent conversations confidential arsenic a substance of state of religion.

“To support it legally, arsenic is done successful a akin mode successful immoderate professions, means preserving a ineffable abstraction of interior freedom, wherever the believer tin unfastened his oregon her psyche to God without fearfulness of outer pressures,” helium said.

Former Opus Dei members accidental they couldn't conscionable with Leo

Some erstwhile members of the almighty Catholic question Opus Dei, which was founded successful Spain and remains influential here, were incapable to get a gathering with Leo. They had sought to talk to him portion helium was successful Madrid astir intelligence and different abuses they accidental they suffered successful the movement.

“We bash not talk retired of bitterness, nor bash we question immoderate benignant of revenge; rather, we talk retired of a consciousness of work and motivation work arsenic those who person firsthand cognition of a world that has caused sedate harm to the religion and suffering to galore people,” 8 erstwhile members wrote to Leo connected May 24 successful asking for an audience.

Leo’s bureau received their missive but was incapable to put the gathering astatine specified a precocious date, said Gareth Gore, an writer who met with the pope astatine the Vatican successful March astir a publication helium wrote successful 2024 connected alleged abuses successful Opus Dei that the question powerfully rejected arsenic unfounded.

In declining the meeting, Leo mightiness privation to debar suggestions helium was interfering successful religion and Argentine investigations into the movement. In 2024, Argentine prosecutors concluded determination were grounds for launching a transgression probe into its apical South American officials connected charges of quality trafficking and labour exploitation against 44 women.

Opus Dei successful Argentina has denied the accusations.

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