Pope Leo XIV acknowledges Milwaukee clergy abuse victims

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – An outreach effort from an organization representing victims of clergy abuse within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has received a personal response from Pope Leo XIV himself.

The pontiff sent a personal message to survivors within the archdiocese represented by “AWAKE”. The group’s founder and executive director Sara Larson tells WTMJ’s Wisconsin’s Weekend Morning News she delivered 37 handwritten letters to the Pope earlier this year, and received the response from Vatican City July 15th:

“I ​was ​astonished ​at ​the ​number ​of ​people ​who ​wanted ​to ​write,” says Larson. “​Both ​the ​people ​that ​are ​practicing ​Catholics ​and ​those ​who ​are ​not ​at ​all ​and ​maybe ​have ​no ​interaction ​with ​the ​Church ​in ​any ​way. The ​project ​resonated ​with ​them, ​and ​I ​think ​there ​was ​a ​little ​bit ​of ​a ​sense ​of ​hope ​that ​maybe ​we ​could ​actually ​get ​him ​to ​hear ​us.”…

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