During a historic visit to Argentina, Pope Francis met privately with five survivors of clerical sexual abuse on Monday. These meetings were part of several planned talks with victims throughout his 12-day tour of Latin America, according to the Vatican. The closed-door encounters took place in Buenos Aires and aimed to express the pope's empathy towards those who have suffered, build paths to healing, and ensure the Catholic Church is a safe and spiritually healthy environment. These meetings followed an open-air mass attended by an estimated 2.5 million people at Avenida del Libertador, marking the country's first papal liturgy in nearly 40 years. The pope has consistently met with survivors during foreign visits as part of a wider effort to repair global relations and restore the Church's credibility, which has been tarnished by lawsuits, widespread sexual abuse, and cover-ups over the last three decades. While tracking clergy abuse cases globally is challenging, a 2021 independent inquiry estimated there were around 216,000 victims of the French Catholic Church's clergy alone between 1950 and 2020. During the nearly hour-long meeting, Pope Francis listened to survivors' testimonies and reiterated his commitment to strengthening safeguards within the Catholic Church. This visit is the first by a pontiff since Pope John Paul II's trip in 1987 and is part of a three-country tour that includes Uruguay and Peru.