Pope Leo tells cardinals it is a Church scandal that abuse victims ‘were not welcomed and accompanied'

During his Jan. 8 address at the conclusion of a two-day meeting with cardinals from around the world, Pope Leo XIV raised the topic, which was not on the meeting’s official agenda, of the abuse crisis in the Church, saying it is a scandal “that the door was closed and the victims were not welcomed and accompanied by authentic shepherds.” 

The Holy Father brought up this issue about halfway through his address reflecting on the extraordinary consistory — the first of his pontificate — and looking ahead.

The two main themes the cardinals chose to specifically address in the meeting were synodality and the Church’s evangelizing mission in the modern world; the other two theme options were the liturgy and the work of the Curia. 

Pope Leo noted that he is committed to supporting the cardinals and the local churches amid challenges of evangelization, and he then added: “You have spoken, to continue this journey, about the importance of formation. Formation in listening, formation in the spirituality of listening.” He noted that the cardinals highlighted the importance of formation in this regard not only in seminaries but for bishops as well. 

Pope Leo then raised the topic of the abuse crisis in the Church and the importance of listening to abuse victims. 

“Here – even though it was not a specific topic of dialogue at our meeting – I would like to mention the problem, which even today is truly a wound in the life of the Church in many places, namely the crisis caused by sexual abuse,” Pope Leo said. “We cannot close our eyes or our hearts.” 

“I would like to say, also encouraging you to share this in turn with the bishops: many times the pain of the victims has been greater because they were not welcomed and listened to,” he continued. “The abuse itself causes a deep wound that may last a lifetime, but often the cause of scandal in the Church is that the door was closed and the victims were not welcomed and accompanied by authentic shepherds.”

He said that a woman who survived abuse recently told him “that the most painful thing for her was precisely that no bishop wanted to listen to her.”

“So here too, listening is profoundly important,” Pope Leo said. 

In October 2025, Pope Leo met with a group of abuse survivors at the Apostolic Palace, as CatholicVote previously reported. Gemma Hickey of Canada, a survivor of abuse who was at the meeting, said Pope Leo “listened to us” and was notably humble. 

“There was no anger — only hope for accountability and lasting change,” she said at the time. 

Continuing his closing Consistory address Pope Leo emphasized the importance of “formation of everyone.” 

“Formation in seminaries, of priests, bishops and lay collaborators must be rooted in the ordinary and concrete life of the local Church, of parishes and of many other significant places where people meet, especially those who suffer,” he said. 

He noted that it is evident from the brief consistory meeting that a few days, “or even a week, are not enough to delve deeply into a topic in order to live it.”

Pope Leo encouraged allowing the regular collaborative work “to be an opportunity for formation and growth” among everyone involved, from the parish level to the Roman Curia. One such way to do this in a synodal way is through pastoral visits, he added.  

Near the beginning of the address, Pope Leo also emphasized that Jesus Christ must be at the center of the Church’s mission.

“Proclaiming the Gospel, as we all know well: Jesus Christ is at the center,” he said. “We want to proclaim his Word, and therefore the importance of truly living an authentic spiritual life ourselves, which can bear witness in today’s world.”

As CatholicVote previously reported, Pope Leo also proposed in this final address to hold the extraordinary consistory in June and then on an annual basis moving forward. 

Concluding, he recalled his homily for Mass the day before the consistory began, in which he said that in God’s presence, people are called out of living in a “melancholic complacency” and to live in hope given by God. This hope, the Pontiff said, must in turn be given to the world. 

“And with this, we all want to express the concern we have shared in our dialogues and personal encounters, and also in some interventions in the group, for all those who suffer in the world,” he continued. “We are not gathered here deaf to the reality of poverty, suffering, war and violence that afflicts so many local Churches. And here, with them in our hearts, we also want to say that we are close to them. Many of you have come from countries where you are experiencing this suffering of violence and war.”

He added that in undertaking “this journey of hope” they must be mindful of the fact that younger generations will be affected by their choices: “what we live and decide today not only regards the present, but also affects the near and distant future.

“It is the hope we experienced in the Jubilee, which has just come to an end. It is truly a message we want to offer to the world: we have closed the Holy Door, but let us remember that the door of Christ and his love always remains open!”