Pope Leo, the first U.S. pontiff, spoke to a crowd of 150,000 in Lourdes on September 27 during a four-day tour of France, calling on the Catholic Church to heal "deep wounds" and reckon with its "painful errors" before meeting with child sexual abuse survivors. He urged the church to place itself "under the Lord's purifying gaze."
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Catholic church must reckon with its ‘painful errors’, pontiff tells crowd in Lourdes during four-day tour The pope has called on the Catholic church to heal “deep wounds” and “painful errors”, before a meeting with survivors of child sexual abuse as he continues his four-day visit to France. Addressing a crowd in a large field near the Catholic shrine of Lourdes on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called on
this outlet adds: theguardian, world, 2026
First US pope tells crowd of 150,000: ‘We must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze’