Lourdes, France - Pope Leo XIV met with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy during his visit to the French pilgrimage town of Lourdes on Sunday.

Seven women and men who had suffered abuse were present at the meeting.

Leo reaffirmed "his commitment to ensuring that the evil they had experienced would not happen to others," according to the Vatican press office.

Earlier on Sunday, the pope had spoken at an open-air Mass attended by 150,000 people of "deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors" that had occurred within the Church. 

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One of the survivors, Véronique Garnier, said after the meeting that she hoped something would change.

As in other countries, abuse by priests in France was covered up for decades. According to an independent commission of inquiry, there have been more than 200,000 victims since 1950.

Lourdes was the penultimate stop on Leo's visit to France. On Monday, the pope travels on to Metz, near the French-German border, where he plans to deliver a speech on Europe.