Pope Leo XIV urges Peru's bishops to answer clergy abuse with truth and reparation

A speech to the bishops

Pope León XIV arrived in Lima on the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 November, coming from Uruguay and Argentina, as part of his sixth international apostolic trip. On Thursday morning, 12 November, he addressed the bishops in the chapel of the Archbishop's Palace, where EL PAÍS counted 64 bishops present. He recalled sitting in the same room in 2018 during the visit of Pope Francis, and he invoked his predecessor's words urging the bishops not to remain trapped in divisions that narrow their calling. The visit's motto, "Let us open our hearts", framed the speech, in which he warned against the mountains of indifference and the deserts of individualism.

“Our mission as bishops asks us to be bridge builders, to foster dialogue, to educate for encounter and to help heal the wounds that divide Peruvian society.”

Abuse as a central warning

The pope described abuse by members of the clergy or within the Church as a reality that has caused great pain, and he asked the bishops to respond as Jesus would. His words were the following.

“We must respond as Jesus would, with truth, justice, forgiveness, reparation and an increasingly determined commitment to a culture of prevention and protection of the most vulnerable against these crimes.”

ABC reported that the abuse question has featured in both of his speeches to Church leaders so far. The Vatican has confirmed that he plans to meet victims during the trip, but it has not announced when or where that meeting will take place. El País said it is still unknown which victims will attend, and Observador noted that the sources do not say who selected them.

The most damaging case in Peru is the Sodalicio of Christian Life, a Catholic organization founded in Lima in 1971 by lay theologian Luis Fernando Figari. Pope Francis dissolved it in 2025 after investigations into sexual, physical, psychological and economic abuse, and La Razón reported that it had a presence in 25 countries. The Peruvian Church has never published reports on the full extent of abuse, so no exact total exists. Bishop Accountability, a US-based organization, lists at least 77 priests, religious and consecrated laypeople publicly accused of abusing minors in recent decades, while Observador reports that the Sodalicio has compensated 98 cases.

Publicly accused (Bishop Accountability database)77

Sodalicio compensated cases (Observador)98

Publicly accused (Bishop Accountability database)

77

Sodalicio compensated cases (Observador)

98

Data from the article text

What victims are asking for

Jose Enrique Escardó, the first person to file a complaint about Sodalicio abuse in Peru and president of the Red de Sobrevivientes Perú, told El País that survivors need facts, not words. He said victims believe the organization's economic structure still operates without effective reparation, and that some of its priests and consecrated laypeople continue working with children and attacking journalists who investigate them. His demands include closing everything that still functions within the Sodalicio, creating a survivors' council to help victims reach justice, and having the Church hand over the data it holds to civil and criminal courts in each country.

Cathedral and Plaza de Armas

Later on Thursday he went to the cathedral to pray with priests and nuns, telling them that Peru needs a Church willing to acknowledge its own infidelities and ask forgiveness with humility. He then walked to the Plaza de Armas for a civic meeting before 40,000 people, according to ABC, on the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people. ABC also reported that he denounced machismo and violence against women in the country. Rai described crowds outside the cathedral carrying signs that read "Papa León XIV vuelve a casa", and reported that he called the family, formed by a man and a woman, the first natural society. He also spoke of single mothers and families wounded by migration, economic hardship and corruption, asked that wealth and resources serve everyone, and urged that language be disarmed where old wounds block understanding between citizens.