Pope Francis Expected to Meet with Abuse Victims at World Youth Day in Portugal

Francis, throughout his pontificate, has been outspoken in his condemnation of child sexual abuse among Church leaders. Last month he wrote to the president of Bolivia expressing “sorrow and …shame and dismay” over abuse in that country.

In 2019 the pope promulgated the Church legislation Vos Estis Lux Mundi meant to address sexual abuse in the Church; earlier this year he updated those rules and made them permanent.

The Holy Father will be present in Portugal next month for most of the event, dividing his time between World Youth Day functions and meetings with government leaders. 

Francis is also planning to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, with the pope reportedly intending to pray the rosary with sick young adults at the shrine’s Chapel of Apparitions.

The pope is scheduled to celebrate Mass on the final day of the event. 

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World Youth Day’s launch is popularly attributed to St. John Paul II, whose 1984 Palm Sunday gathering to mark the Youth Jubilee of the Holy Year of Redemption drew hundreds of thousands of young participants from around the world.

Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at the College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.