Pope Leo XIV met six victims of clerical abuse in Peru on Thursday, including some linked to the once-powerful and now-disbanded Catholic society Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. The U.S.-born pope, who also holds Peruvian citizenship, is returning to the country where he spent nearly two decades as a missionary and bishop, and he is well acquainted with the scandal that has shaken the Church there.

The pope spent more than an hour with the victims, meeting each person individually and listening to their accounts of suffering and pain, the Vatican said. He thanked them for their invaluable testimony, and he used the visit to urge the Catholic Church to make amends to survivors and to strengthen its protections against abuse.S1S2