Pope Leo XIV will meet with seven survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy during his four-day visit to France, starting Friday. The meeting is planned for Sunday in Lourdes, a major Catholic pilgrimage site known for its religious significance and healing traditions. The survivors, who were abused as minors or adults in Catholic schools, parishes, and religious communities, emphasized in a joint statement that they do not claim to represent all survivors. They said, "Engaging in dialogue does not mean endorsing," and "Being received does not mean abandoning our demands." Each participant will attend in their own name, free to express their personal views and experiences. The French Catholic Church has set up an independent system to provide compensation to abuse survivors and has acknowledged its history of abuse. A 2021 report estimated that over 330,000 children in France had been sexually abused by priests, other clergy members, church workers, and volunteers over seven decades. One of the survivors was abused at Notre-Dame de Bétharram, a private Catholic school in southwestern France, where allegations date back more than 50 years. Another survivor was abused by Bernard Preynat, a priest who admitted to sexually abusing at least 75 boys over several decades. Preynat was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020 in one of France’s most high-profile clergy abuse cases. Another participant is among those who accused Abbé Pierre, a respected priest and humanitarian who died in 2007, of sexually assaulting women. Critics have raised concerns about how the survivors were selected for the meeting with Pope Leo XIV. Charles Mercier, a professor of history and sociology of Catholicism at the Paris-based École Pratique des Hautes Études, noted that the main criticism is that the group meeting with the Pope was chosen by bishops and church institutions, not by the victims themselves. This has left some advocates for survivors’ rights feeling they are not recognized by the church. Following the 2021 reckoning over the scale of abuse, "bishops begged for pardon to the victims. And now they give the impression that they want to turn the page," Mercier added. Church leaders appear to be suggesting that "we have dealt with this crisis and now we are building the future," he said. Alain Esquerre, a spokesperson for survivors of the Bétharram school, said that words of compassion are no longer enough and called for a concrete plan to prevent abuse. "Receiving survivors’ groups would carry far too much symbolic and political weight, and it would require concrete action to be taken," Esquerre said. "What we want is to move beyond simply hearing survivors’ testimony and potentially providing them with financial compensation." During a visit to Spain in June, Pope Leo XIV met with six survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Madrid and promised to consider their suggestions for improving the church’s response to the crisis, according to the Vatican. In Lourdes, the façade of a basilica features mosaics by Rev. Marko Rupnik, which were recently covered entirely. Rupnik is currently on trial in a Vatican court on allegations of psychological, spiritual, and sexual abuse involving more than two dozen women in the 1990s. Last week, child protection activists protested near the home of Jacques Delfosse, a former Catholic priest suspected of sexually assaulting dozens of children. Protesters criticized what they described as authorities’ failure to act against Delfosse, who served in northern France and the Paris region from 1964 until the 2000s. Delfosse was convicted in 2007 of raping two girls younger than 15 during school holiday camps in the 1980s. He was dismissed from the clerical state in 2025 after media reports prompted dozens to come forward with allegations. The Lille prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in August into the new allegations. Arnaud Gallais, 45, president of the child protection group Mouv’Enfants, called on President Emmanuel Macron to raise the case during his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Friday. He also urged the Lille diocese and the Vatican to open their archives. Gallais denounced an "unbearable" denial of justice, citing a report by the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children, or CIIVISE, stating that only 3% of rapes and sexual assaults committed against children each year in France result in a conviction.