Irish abuse victim encounters Pope Leo: ‘He felt my pain’

Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV has met with David Ryan, an Irish sexual abuse survivor, who appeared in an RTÉ Radio 1 documentary in November 2022, which reported on the abuse he and his late brother Mark suffered when they were students at a Catholic secondary school.

They attended Blackrock College and its preparatory school, Willow Park, in County Dublin, while they were aged between 12 and 17.

Speaking to the media after the audience, Mr. Ryan said Pope Leo listened closely to his account of the abuse they suffered.

“He said, for me speaking to him today, hopefully some other people will come forward and speak about it; this is what I want, other people to come forward,” said Mr. Ryan.

He said he felt Pope Leo’s sympathy and empathy for survivors and their families.

“He was so sorry to hear of my pain, for my family’s pain and for the other survivors that haven’t come forward yet,” he said.

“I know it was genuine... I really am so glad I’ve done it,” Mr. Ryan told the media.

Mr. Ryan said it took him 40 years to realize that the abuse was not his fault but that of his abusers.

During the audience, Mr. Ryan gave Pope Leo a lapel pin of St. Brigid of Kildare, as the Church celebrated her feast day on February 1.

He also showed the Pope a photograph of his brother, Mark, who was also abused at Blackrock College and died suddenly in 2023 at the age of 62.

“What an experience,” said Mr. Ryan about the papal audience. “I’ll never forget it, never, never forget it. His sincerity, his empathy, he felt my pain but he hadn’t experienced my pain but he knows what pain I had gone through, and my family.”