The Catholic Church has enacted new legislation to expedite abuse proceedings while prioritizing victims’ pain and rights alongside those of the accused.
Newsroom (18/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) In a candid and reflective interview with Crux Now, Pope Leo XIV delved deeply into the ongoing clerical abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, acknowledging its profound impact on victims while emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that respects the rights of the accused and upholds the Church’s broader evangelical mission. The pontiff, speaking from his experiences in Italy, Peru, and beyond, described the crisis as “real” and unresolved, contrasting it with other issues like finances, and outlined strategies for improvement amid persistent criticisms of slow implementation of reforms.
The conversation arose from concerns that, despite new Church laws aimed at combating abuse and cover-ups, victims often feel sidelined, lacking transparency and rights in canonical processes. Pope Leo XIV, who has previously initiated a study into delays in these cases, stressed that addressing the crisis requires time, sensitivity, and professional expertise. “This is one of the questions in terms of the protection of minors and how to respond to the crisis,” he said. “I think this is a real crisis… that the Church has to continue to address because it’s not solved.”
Central to the Pope’s response was a profound empathy for victims, whom he described as bearing “very deep wounds” that may persist lifelong. He cautioned against naive assumptions that financial settlements or the dismissal of offending clergy could fully heal such trauma. “Victims must be treated with great respect and with an understanding that those who have suffered very deep wounds because of abuse, sometimes carry those wounds for their entire life,” he explained. “It would be naive for myself or for anyone to think that while we gave them some kind of financial settlement, or we dealt with the cause and the priest has been dismissed, as if those wounds are just going to go away because of that.”
The pontiff advocated for “an authentic and deep sensitivity and compassion” toward the suffering inflicted by Church personnel, including priests, bishops, laity, religious, catechists, and others. He highlighted this as an enduring issue demanding “deep respect,” underscoring the Church’s ongoing responsibility to provide meaningful accompaniment.
However, Pope Leo XIV also addressed the complexities of justice, noting that the accused—often priests—possess rights that must be safeguarded. He cited statistics indicating that over 90% of accusations are truthful, affirming that most claimants are “authentically victims” who are “telling the truth.” Yet, he acknowledged rare but documented cases of false accusations that have “destroyed” lives. “The accused also have rights, and many of them believe that those rights have not been respected,” he said. “There have been proven cases of some kind of false accusation. There have been priests whose lives have been destroyed because of that.”
This duality, he explained, creates a “bind” for the Church. Legal systems, whether civil or canonical, exist to protect all parties, and achieving reliable justice inherently takes time—a reality not unique to the Church but evident in courts worldwide, from Italy to Peru to the United States. Victims frequently question the lengthy processes, but the Pope emphasized the presumption of innocence: “The fact that the victim comes forward and makes an accusation and the accusation presumably is accurate, that does not take away the presumption of innocence. So, the priests also have to be protected, or the accused person has to be protected, their rights have to be respected.”
Even articulating this balance, he noted, can exacerbate victims’ pain, illustrating the delicate nature of the issue. In response, the Church has enacted new legislation to expedite proceedings while prioritizing victims’ pain and rights alongside those of the accused. “The Church certainly has tried to make new legislation that would both speed up the process, would respect especially the issues that I was speaking of earlier, the victims and their pain and their right to have that pain recognized in some kind of response from the Church, but at the same time the respect of the accused,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV also pointed to a positive trend: more victims seeking healing by sharing their stories, which he deemed “very healthy.” Yet, he admitted the Church has struggled to respond effectively, often acting as “novices” in this arena. To bridge this gap, he called for greater reliance on professionals to guide accompaniment efforts. “I think there is one of the areas where we continue to need the help of professionals to assist us with that and to accompany the victims,” he stated.
Drawing inspiration from his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo XIV argued against allowing the abuse crisis to overshadow the Church’s core purpose. “Pope Francis had some very good insight into this issue. He recognized the importance of the issue, but at the same time recognized that the issue of sexual abuse cannot become the center focus of the Church,” he reflected. “The Church has a mission. People along the way have been deeply hurt and we will try to attend to them as best we can and accompany them, and they are part of the Church as well, those who still wish to be.”
He expressed sorrow for those who have left the faith due to their suffering, insisting their choices must be respected. At the same time, he defended the majority of Church members who have never committed abuse, asserting that the institution cannot fixate solely on the crisis at the expense of its Gospel-preaching role. “Thanks be to God, the vast majority of people who are committed to the Church, priests, and bishops, religious, have never abused anyone,” he said. “So, we can’t make the whole Church focus exclusively on this issue, because that would not be an authentic response to what the world is looking for in terms of the need for the mission of the Church.”
In navigating this “really difficult thing,” the Pope emphasized respecting victims’ singular focus on their pain while ensuring the Church accompanies all its members. “There are many other people in the Church who also have a right to be accompanied in whatever they are living and experiencing, and the Church has to be with them as well,” he concluded. “It’s one more of the many challenges that I’m trying to find a way to deal with.”
This interview underscores Pope Leo XIV’s commitment to ongoing reform, blending pastoral care with procedural fairness. As the Church grapples with its past failures, his words signal a strategy rooted in compassion, professional collaboration, and a reaffirmation of its evangelical identity—though critics may continue to press for faster, more transparent action to restore trust.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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