Pope Leo meets with abuse survivors in Peru

LIMA (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV met with survivors of abuse by members of the clergy and ecclesial institutions on the first full day of his visit to Peru, the Holy See Press Office said.

In a statement published Nov. 12, the Vatican said the pope met with six survivors at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima.

The statement noted that those present had “suffered abuse by members of the clergy and ecclesial institutions in the country, some of whom are former members of groups linked to the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae,” the lay movement suppressed by Pope Francis in 2025.

“After a brief greeting in the Nunciature chapel, the pope met with each person individually, listening to their stories of suffering and their pain, and reflecting with them on how to foster a change in mentality through listening to victims, seeking the truth, pathways to healing, and a commitment to creating safe environments,” the Vatican press office said.

According to the Vatican, the meeting lasted more than an hour.

“At the conclusion, as he bade them farewell, the pope thanked them for their valuable testimony, expressing his closeness to them and to all those victims of abuse whom it was not possible to meet,” the statement said.

Earlier in the day, during his meeting with the country’s bishops, Pope Leo called on them to follow the example of Sts. Martin de Porres and Juan Macías, who, through their humility, “teach us to recognize Christ in the least among us.”

The lives of the two saints, he said, showed “that charity begins with a simple gesture, a listening ear” and are reminders that “no person can be judged by their rank, their origins or their social status.”

“In this regard, allow me to mention a reality that has caused us so much pain: the abuses perpetrated by members of the clergy or within the context of the Church,” the pope said. “We must respond as Jesus would, with truth, justice, forgiveness, making amends, and an ever more resolute commitment to fostering a culture of prevention and protection for the weakest in light of such crimes.”

At a mid-morning prayer with Peru’s clergy, consecrated men and women, and laity, the pope also said Peru was in great need of visible signs of reconciliation and love, especially when it comes to the Church’s own faults.

“It needs a Church that sows love, capable of building bridges where others raise walls, of listening, healing and forgiving and, at the same time, ready to acknowledge its own infidelities and humbly ask forgiveness, accepting responsibility for the wounds it has caused both within the community and around it,” Pope Leo said.

The pope played a significant role in the case involving the now-suppressed lay movement, particularly when he served as bishop of Chiclayo. Although abuses in the lay movement were revealed more than two decades ago, the case gained prominence after the 2015 publication of “Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados” (“Half Monks, Half Soldiers”).

Written by Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz along with survivor and fellow journalist Pedro Salinas, the book detailed alleged psychological and sexual abuse, as well as corporal punishment and extreme exercises, within Sodalitium.

Since 2018, Ugaz and Salinas have faced a smear campaign they have attributed to Sodalitium, including lawsuits and the publication of materials intended to discredit their work.

In a 2025 interview with OSV News, Ugaz said the pope, as bishop of Chiclayo, “had supported us quietly — not in front of the cameras — since 2018. He never did it for recognition. He just helped. He was always there.”

Ugaz said that during his time leading the Diocese of Chiclayo, then-Bishop Robert F. Prevost was among a handful of bishops in the country who stood by her and Salinas, as well as the victims of Sodalitium, as the group used questionable and unethical methods to silence them.

While “in Peru, abusers and the powerful usually get away with it,” Ugaz told OSV News that in her particular case, justice came from outside, “not because the country suddenly realized the Sodalitium had abused its members, stolen land from farmers and had gone after journalists. No. Justice came thanks to the Church, not the courts.”

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