Pope Leo XIV has declared that the Catholic Church should have zero tolerance for any form of abuse—whether it be sexual, spiritual, or abuse of authority—and emphasized the necessity for “transparent processes” to foster a culture of prevention throughout the church.
Leo addressed the clergy sex abuse scandal for the first time publicly in a written message to a Peruvian journalist who had reported on an egregious case of abuse and financial corruption within the Peruvian-based Catholic movement, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.
The message was publicly read on Friday night in Lima during a performance of a play inspired by the Sodalitium scandal and the investigative work of journalist Paola Ugaz.
“It is urgent to root in the whole church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse – neither of power or authority, nor abuse of conscience, spiritual or sexual abuse,” Leo said in the message. “This culture will only be authentic if it is born of active vigilance, of transparent processes and sincere listening to those who have been hurt. For this, we need journalists.”
Leo is well aware of the Sodalitium scandal, since he spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru, where the group was founded in 1971.
The then-Bishop Robert Prevost was responsible for listening to the Sodalitium’s victims as the Peruvian bishops’ point-person for abuse victims and helped some reach financial settlements with the organization.
After Pope Francis brought him to the Vatican in 2023, Prevost helped dismantle the group entirely by overseeing the resignation of a powerful Sodalitium bishop.
The Sodalitium was officially suppressed earlier this year, right before Francis died.
Now as pope, Leo has to oversee the dismantling of the Soldalitium and its sizeable assets. The Vatican envoy on the ground handling the job, Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, read out Leo’s message on Friday night, appearing alongside Ugaz on stage.
In the message, Leo also praised journalists for their courage in holding the powerful to account, demanded public authorities protect them and said a free press is an “common good that cannot be renounced.”
Ugaz and a Sodalitium victim, Pedro Salinas, have faced years of criminal and civil litigation from Sodalitium and its supporters for their investigative reporting into the group’s twisted practices and financial misconduct, and they have praised Leo for his handling of the case.
The abuse scandal is one of the thorniest dossiers facing Leo, especially given demands from survivors that he go even farther than Francis in applying a zero-tolerance for abuse across the church, including for abusers whose victims were adults.
