Pope Leo to Meet Abuse Victims During Latin America Trip to Uruguay, Argentina, Peru

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will meet with victims of clergy sexual abuse during his trip to Latin America. In an Oct. 27 statement, the Vatican press office said “several meetings” were planned with “victims of abuse by members of the clergy and the Church” during his Nov. 6-17 visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

The statement said the meetings “reflect the pope’s desire to express his closeness to those who have suffered and continue to suffer from this violence, to build with them healing paths accessible to anyone in need, and to ensure that the Church is a safe and spiritually healthy place, one that lives and communicates the Gospel.”

The announcement followed by one day an open letter released by Red de Sobrevivientes Peru (Survivors Network Peru), a victims’ advocacy association. The letter came from victims and survivors who said they were abused by members of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a lay movement that has now been suppressed. The association was founded by José Enrique Escardó, the first member of Sodalitium to denounce the abuse he suffered at the hands of the late Germán Doig, a co-founder of the movement. The group thanked the late Pope Francis for suppressing Sodalitium in 2025, but it expressed concern that Pope Leo’s schedule included no meetings with victims.

After the Vatican’s announcement, the group posted a statement on X on Oct. 27 saying it was pleased that Pope Leo “will meet with victims of church abuse.” It added: “What we would not welcome is seeing them vetted, as was done in Spain. Victims want changes in the Catholic Church, not photo ops.” The group was referring to several survivors who accused the Spanish bishops’ conference of selecting survivors who had taken part in Church abuse prevention programs to meet Pope Leo during his June visit to Spain. Hearing both the concerns of survivors and the answers of Church officials is a matter of honest and fair dealing (Proverbs 18:17).

Yago de la Cierva, a layman and general coordinator of the pope’s visit to Spain, denied the allegation that certain survivors were excluded. He told OSV News in June that it was “a blatant lie.” He said, “Survivors who met Pope Leo were chosen by the Archdiocese of Madrid, the interdiocesan center for the protection of minors and by the ombudsman himself,” naming the government representative who led the government’s investigation. The Vatican has said Pope Leo will hold several meetings with survivors during the Latin America trip, but it did not specify when or in which of the three countries those meetings will take place.

Pope Leo played a significant role in the Sodalitium case, particularly when he served as bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. Escardó first revealed abuses in the movement more than two decades ago, but the case gained wider attention after the 2015 publication of “Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados” (“Half Monks, Half Soldiers”). Written by Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz 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 what they described as a smear campaign that they 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.” She said that while he led the diocese, then-Bishop Prevost was among a handful of bishops in the country who stood by her, Salinas and the victims of Sodalitium as the group used what she described as questionable and unethical methods to silence them.

Ugaz also said that while “in Peru, abusers and the powerful usually get away with it,” 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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