‘It’s very troubling that only seven hand-picked survivors were invited to meet the pope’
Pope Leo XIV was set to meet privately with seven survivors of clerical sex abuse Sunday after urging French bishops to keep up the fight against child predation within the Catholic Church.
Marc Artzrouni, the French representative for the global coalition “Ending Clergy Abuse”, shares his view of the pope’s messaging with FRANCE 24.
Pope Leo says it is ‘impossible’ to regard assisted dying as ‘normal’
Pope Leo XIV said assisted dying was not “normal”, as he continued a landmark visit to France, where parliament has legalised the practice for certain patients.
“We must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion. It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal,” he told believers who were sick or suffered from disabilities, at the French pilgrimage site of Lourdes.
France’s parliament passed legislation in June establishing a right to assisted dying for some adults suffering from an incurable condition.
The move drew strong criticism from the Catholic Church in France, which denounced the bill as a serious “rupture”.
🎥 Pope Leo continues his visit to France in Lourdes
Pope Leo XIV continued his visit to France in Lourdes, at the major Catholic pilgrimage site in the foothills of the Pyrénées, where he celebrated mass before around 150,000 people.
Hendro Munstermann, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch newspaper Nederland Dagblad, joins us from Lourdes to share his impressions and tell us more about the Pope’s visit:
Pope Leo XIV addresses sexual violence in his sermon
In his sermon, the pope once again alluded to sexual abuse.
The Church “must have the courage to live out this conversion first and foremost. To heal the deep wounds, the infidelities, and the painful missteps committed within its ranks, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze,” he said.
He also addressed the topic of end-of-life care, expressing regret over “current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in the face of illness, suffering, or old age”.
📸 In pictures: Pope Leo XIV celebrates open-air Mass in Lourdes
Pope Leo XIV, flanked by Italian Archbishop and Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations Diego Ravelli, celebrates a holy mass at the Prairie of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, southwestern France, on September 27, 2026. © Alberto Pizzoli, AFP
Worshippers attend the holy mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at the Prairie of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, southwestern France, on September 27, 2026. © Lionel Bonaventure, AFP
Pope Leo XIV blesses worshippers with holy water as he celebrates a holy mass at the Prairie of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, southwestern France, on September 27, 2026. © Lionel Bonaventure, AFP
Pope urges Church in France to keep up fight against ‘scourge’ of sexual abuse
Pope Leo XIV urged French bishops to keep up the battle against the “scourge” of clerical sex abuse, after repeated accusations against the Church in recent years.
“You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy or within an ecclesial context,” he told them during a private meeting in the pilgrimage town of Lourdes, according to a copy of his speech released to the press.
“It is important to persevere along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance.”
Pope pays his respects before artwork commemorating victims of sexual abuse
Before addressing the French Bishops’ Conference, Léon XIV paused before a photograph of “the crying child,” a work installed in 2021 that symbolizes the suffering endured by victims of sexual abuse within the Church.
150,000 people attend the open-air Mass in Lourdes
Pope Leo XIV is celebrating Mass at the Lourdes Shrine.
The first reading will be in Italian, the second in Spanish, while the prayer intentions will be recited in French, Ukrainian, English, German, Dutch, and Arabic, among other languages, reported the French newspaper La Croix.
🎥 Pope Leo visits Lourdes pilgrimage site
Pope Leo XIV is expected to meet privately with seven victims after promising to further efforts to reform the Church in the wake of the global sexual abuse scandal.
FRANCE 24’s Catherine Viette reports:
Pope Leo XIV greets crowds ahead of Mass in Lourdes
Pope Leo XIV greeted crowds once again from the popemobile on Sunday morning in Lourdes, where he is set to celebrate a Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of worshippers.
Some 150,000 faithful are expected for this new open-air Mass, following the more than one million people – according to figures released by the Vatican – who came to meet the pope in Paris and Saint-Denis on Friday and Saturday.
© Alberto Pizzoli, AFP
📸 In pictures: Crowds gather for open-air Mass in Lourdes
A priest prays as he sits in the stands at the Prairie of the Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes ahead of the holy mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, in Lourdes, southwestern France, on September 27, 2026 on the third day of his visit to France. © Ed Jones, AFP
Nuns wait for the start of a holy mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at the Prairie of the Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes on September 27, 2026. © Ed Jones, AFP
Pilgrims and faithful wait for Pope Leo XIV to celebrate Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on September 27, 2026. © Gregorio Borgia, AP
What to know about Lourdes, one of Catholicism’s most famous pilgrimage sites
The site near the Spanish border draws millions of pilgrims annually, including sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the famed spring water in the Lourdes grotto. Here is what to know about Lourdes, one of Catholicism’s most important pilgrimage sites.
Lourdes’ popularity is intrinsically linked to Bernadette Soubirous. A young girl who came from a modest background, she was uneducated, with no knowledge of religion, and suffered from asthma when she reported 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in the Grotto of Massabielle near Lourdes, between February and July 1858. The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.
Bernadette’s visions, and the subsequent discovery of allegedly healing spring waters, led the church to build a sanctuary there.
🎥 Pope visit expected to boost Lourdes economy
The town of Lourdes in southern France is the second stop on Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the country, following his time in Paris. Around 150,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by the pontiff at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday.
Local businesses are hoping the influx of visitors will also boost the economy, as pilgrims spend money on souvenirs, food and other goods.
The Pope’s program in Lourdes today
9am – Meeting with the bishops of the French Bishops’ Conference
11am – Sunday mass at the Lourdes Sanctuary
3:30pm – Meeting with pilgrims
4:45pm – Meeting with nuns of the Carmelite Monastery in Lourdes
Time to be determined – Private meeting with seven victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church
9pm – Torchlight procession
🎥 France’s baptism boom as more young people seek catholic community
The number of adult baptisms in France each year has tripled since 2016, hitting 13,000 this year. The numbers suggest a newfound interest in the church from young people who either left the faith and came back or were never raised in it to begin with.
FRANCE 24’s Charlotte Lam has more:
🔍 A look back at the pope’s giant open-air Mass in Paris
Pope Leo to meet clergy sexual abuse victims in Lourdes
Pope Leo XIV will meet with victims of clerical sex abuse during his visit to the pilgrimage town of Lourdes.
A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as minors in France over the span of 70 years.
Among the victims who will meet the pope is a former pupil of the Notre-Dame de Bétharram institution, a boarding school in southwestern France at the centre of widespread accusations of physical and sexual abuse over decades.
Good morning!
Welcome to our liveblog on Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France.
Today the pope is visiting the pilgrimage southwestern town of Lourdes. For a look back on his second day in Paris and his arrival in Lourdes, read our coverage below:
