November 9, 2025 | 09:31 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday with a group of people who were sexually abused by members of the clergy in Belgium.
The group of fifteen were victims of abuse when they were minors, the Holy See Press Office said.
Many of the survivors had previously met with the late Pope Francis during his 2024 visit to Belgium, the Vatican said, adding that the late pontiff had heard their story "with a sense of shame for the suffering they endured as children."
Belgium is a largely Roman Catholic country, where the Belgian Catholic Church has been plagued by a series of abuse scandals in recent years.
What do we know about pope meeting with abuse survivors?
The meeting lasted almost three hours, taking place "in a climate of closeness with the victims, of listening and dialogue, both profound and painful," the Vatican said.
It concluded with a prayer.
Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors accompanied the group. The Vatican said the commission works closely with the church in Belgium on safeguarding issues.
In 2023, a documentary on Belgium's public broadcaster VRT brought fresh momentum to the longstanding and well-documented history of church abuse, prompting many new victims to come forward.
Former Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Pope Francis during his visit last year that the church ought to do more, including taking "concrete steps" to come clean with the past and put survivors' interests ahead of those within the institution.
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