Pope tells new bishops they must address abuse claims promptly

by CNS · September 16, 2025

NEW BISHOPS VATICAN MEETING POPE LEO XIV

Pope Leo XIV meets with newly appointed bishops attending a course in Rome, including about a dozen bishops from the United States, at the Vatican Sept. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By Cindy Wooden, CNS – Pope Leo XIV told 192 new bishops from around the world that they must respond promptly to allegations of inappropriate or abusive behaviour by priests.

“These cannot be put in a drawer — they must be addressed with a sense of mercy and true justice toward both the victims and the accused,” the pope told the bishops Sept. 11, according to the Vatican press office.

The pope had spent the entire morning with the prelates, who were in Rome for the Vatican’s annual formation courses for new bishops. The courses included sessions on handling abuse allegations.

Pope Leo read a prepared speech to the group, which was broadcast in the Vatican press office and published on the Vatican website. But, the press office said, he continued sharing his concerns and advice with the bishops before opening the floor to their questions.

In his meeting with the new bishops the day before, the pope asked them to be “be persevering disciples, not afraid when faced with the first difficulty, pastors close to the people and to their priests, merciful yet firm — even when it comes to making judgments –capable of listening and dialogue, not merely preaching,” the Vatican summary said.

“Be builders of bridges,” he told the bishops, including by embracing synodality, “which he described not as a pastoral method, but as ‘a style of church, of listening and of shared search for the mission to which we are called.'”

As he had done in his formal text, Pope Leo also told the bishops they must be creative in sharing the Gospel and ministering with their people, which can happen only if they are engaged and involved in the world and understand the questions people are asking today.

“Ready-made answers learned 25 years ago in seminary are not enough,” the pope told them.

The bishops must value the “pastoral and human experiences” that they have had in their local churches and allow them to “grow into a new ministry that brings bishops into contact with the universality of the church,” the summary said.

Pope Leo spoke to the bishops about the “fears, a sense of unworthiness, the various expectations each had for their lives” before being named a bishop, the summary said, and he “emphasised the necessity of staying close to the Lord, preserving time for prayer, and continuing to live with unconditional trust in the Holy Spirit, the source of their calling.”