A meeting wanted by Pope Leo himself, “from the first moment the trip began to be organized and organized for months”, a Vatican source tells the newspaper La Razòn. A group of victims of clergy abuse, followed with the Repara project, launched by the archdiocese of Madrid to offer psychological assistance, spiritual accompaniment and legal advice to victims of abuse (even those affected outside the ecclesial sphere), he spent over an hour with the Pontiff in the headquarters of the apostolic nunciature. Six people, whose names and stories have not been disclosed to protect the privacy of those who already bear enormous wounds. «The victims are sacred ground and under no circumstances can they be exposed. This is not a secret meeting for reasons of guarantee for the Church, but to prevent them from being exploited again”, the project operators inform the Spanish press. «The Pope», they add, «does not come to take a photo and distribute it, he comes to listen, to welcome, to embrace their painas far as possible, to console and to seek suitable measures, as far as possible, to make amends”.
And the official Vatican statement also talks about listening. >Starting from their own painful personal experiences, each of those present offered the Pope some proposals to make the Church’s response to such dramatic cases more effective. The Pope listened with affection and attention, he assured his closeness and that of the entire ecclesial community and his commitment so that the proposals received are a foundation for further efforts and the Church can be a safe and spiritually healthy place, where wounds find comfort and healing.” Outside, some victims’ associations, such as Infancia Robada or Mans Petites, are protesting against their exclusion, accusing the Church of having chosen “domesticated victims”.
In reality, as had sPrevost himself bowed at the beginning of the journey, “you can’t listen to all the victims” but he, as he has always done during the course of his mission, will continue to fight the phenomenon and look for solutions to reduce the trauma because he knows that this, even in Spain, is “a still open wound”.
