Pope Leo urges French bishops to 'persevere' against clerical sex abuse

Pope Leo urges French bishops to 'persevere' against clerical sex abuse

LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged French bishops to keep battling the “scourge” of clerical sex abuse during a trip to France, after repeated accusations against the Church in recent years. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics was on a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots, marking the first official papal visit there in nearly two decades. “You have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse of minors committed by members of the c