Key facts
- Pope Leo urged global action to protect migrant children facing violence and exploitation.
- Victims of alleged abuse by Rev. Marko Rupnik asked Pope Leo to expedite a Church trial.
- The victims stated that the lengthy and secret Church trial process was denying them justice.
- The Vatican press office did not immediately offer comment on the victims' letter.
- Rev. Marko Rupnik, a Slovenian priest, faces accusations of sexual and psychological abuse from more than 20 women.
Pope Leo lamented the conditions suffered by migrant and refugee children, urging global action to protect young people fleeing their home countries. The Pope's appeal comes ahead of the Catholic Church's World Day of Migrants and Refugees, celebrated on Sunday with the theme 'Even just one of these children.'
In an open letter ahead of the Pope's visit to France, five victims of alleged abuse by Rev. Marko Rupnik, a prominent priest with Vatican ties, urged Pope Leo to press for the conclusion of a nearly year-long Church trial of the cleric. The victims stated that a lengthy and secret process was denying them justice and that they had received no updates about the trial or been able to offer testimony.
Rupnik, a religious artist whose mosaics adorn churches worldwide, faces accusations of sexual and psychological abuse from more than 20 women, mostly former nuns. He was expelled from the Jesuit order in 2023 after accusations against him were found to be highly credible. The Vatican's doctrinal office announced a Church trial against Rupnik in October 2025, but updates have been scarce. The bishop of Lourdes has ordered Rupnik's mosaics in a French basilica to be covered during the Pope's visit.