Pope meets victims of sex abuse, urges ‘wise leaders’ as French election looms

Pope Leo waved at believers on his way to mass on Sunday in the French pilgrimage town of Lourdes where he is to meet victims of clerical sex abuse on a third day of an official visit to France.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots, marking the first official papal visit there in nearly two decades.

The first US pontiff is expected to meet privately with seven victims after promising to further efforts to reform the Church in the wake of the global sexual abuse scandal.

Domitille Bardoul, 26, woke up before dawn to wait for prayers in the southwestern town at the foot of the Pyrenees after taking the train down from Paris.