Lawsuits, widespread sexual abuse and cover-ups have sullied its reputation over the last three decades.While clergy abuse cases are difficult to track globally, a 2021 independent inquiry found there were an estimated 216,000 victims of the French Catholic Church’s clergy alone between 1950 and 2020. Earlier research found more than 10,600 people were abused by Catholic priests in the US between 1950 and 2002, while Australia counted 6,875 victims of Catholic clergy, religious and lay church workers between 1980 and 2015, according to a 2019 German study.During the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, Leo, 71, listened to victims’ testimonies and reiterated his pledge to strengthen safeguarding in the Catholic Church.
Before being named pope, Leo served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.Argentina is the second stop on Leo’s three-country tour, which began in Uruguay and will wrap up in Peru.His visit was the first by a pontiff since Pope John Paul II’s trip in 1987.