Pope to meet clerical sex abuse victims during landmark France trip

Pope Leo XIV is set to meet with victims of clerical sex abuse during his landmark four-day visit to France, the first by a pope in nearly two decades. The meeting takes place a day after the pontiff led a massive open-air mass in Paris and prayed at the holy shrine of Lourdes, a site of pilgrimage for millions of Catholics worldwide.

The 71-year-old leader is expected to meet privately with seven victims, following a promise to continue efforts to reform the Church in light of the global sexual abuse scandal. The Vatican reported that clergy and lay members of the Church had abused an estimated 330,000 people as minors in France over a 70-year period. One of the victims meeting the pope is a former student of the Notre-Dame de Betharram boarding school, at the center of allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

The pope also prayed to the Virgin Mary for France to elect "wise and generous leaders eager to serve the common good" ahead of the upcoming presidential election.