Pope brings message to protect life to French shrine at Lourdes known for miraculous cures

LOURDES, France (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is taking his opposition to euthanasia and medically assisted dying to Lourdes, the French Catholic shrine associated with miraculous cures and now also a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Leo was to meet with French bishops on Sunday and then celebrate Mass on the prairie in front of Lourdes’ main basilica before an estimated 150,000 people. Later in the day, Leo was to meet with a group of survivors in what has become a regular appointment in papal trips.

Lourdes became a major pilgrimage destination after the Catholic Church officially recognized visions of the Virgin Mary reported here by a young girl in 1858.

The site near the Spanish border draws millions of pilgrims each year, especially sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the famed spring water in the Lourdes grotto where the visions purportedly occurred.

Leo arrived in Lourdes on Saturday night from Paris and immediately prayed inside the Grotto of Apparitions and drank from the spring.

During his four-day visit to France, Leo has repeatedly called for a renewed respect for life in keeping with Catholic teaching that all human life must be protected and defended from conception until natural death. The teaching translates into firm opposition to abortion and medically assisted dying.

France’s National Assembly in 2024 enshrined abortion as a constitutional right and recently gave final approval to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication.

In Lourdes, where the church has recognized as authentic 72 “miraculous” cures, the question of respecting even the most frail, sick and vulnerable is particularly acute.

More recently, Lourdes has also become a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Leo was to meet with seven victims on Sunday, including one who was abused as an adult, in recognition of the new frontier of the abuse crisis that the church faces.

The French church has endured a brutal reckoning with its legacy of abuse. An independent report in 2021 estimated 330,000 children had been abused over 70 years by some 3,000 priests and church workers.

Despite criticism of the report’s methodology and conclusions, French bishops put in place an independent system of compensation for victims that to date has recommended the church pay out more than 20 million euros ($22.7 million).

On the day Leo arrived in Paris, a group of victims wrote an open letter asking him to acknowledge the church’s responsibility and criticizing that the seven survivors were chosen by the church, not victims’ groups. “The Church must relinquish its position as both judge and party to the proceedings,” they wrote in the letter published by French newspaper Liberation.

In Lourdes, Leo will also be reminded of a prickly abuse case inherited from Pope Francis.

The façade of one of the Lourdes basilicas was designed by the Rev. Marko Rupnik, one of the Catholic Church’s most famous mosaic artists.

Rupnik is currently on trial in a Vatican court, accused by more than two dozen women of having psychologically, spiritually and sexually abused them starting in the 1990s, including during the creation of his artworks.

His case was covered up for three decades by his Jesuit superiors, and even Francis was suspected of having protected his fellow Jesuit. In response to a media outcry, Francis in 2024 ordered a canonical trial, which is ongoing.

The Rupnik case posed the question of what to do with his mosaics, which adorn basilicas around the world.

In 2024, Lourdes Bishop Jean-Marc Micas decided to no longer illuminate the façade of the Notre Dame du Rosaire Basilica at night. He subsequently ordered the decorated doors covered, and more recently decided to cover the façade’s mosaics entirely. He reasoned that abuse victims who come to Lourdes for healing shouldn’t be forced to see them.

As Leo approached the grotto on Saturday night, his popemobile drove by the basilica and its boarded up mosaics.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV prays at the Grotto of the Apparitions of Massabielle, in Lourdes, France, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP)

The Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire Basilica is seen during the prayer of Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes, France, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV lights candels before praying at the Grotto of the Apparitions of Massabielle, in Lourdes, France, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP)

In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV leads a prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions of Massabielle, in Lourdes, France, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP)

In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV prays at the Grotto of the Apparitions of Massabielle, in Lourdes, France, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Six games back of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox in mid-August, the Cleveland Guardians threw everything they had at chasing down their division foes.

Lucky them, the AL Central crown comes with a little break before their postseason begins.

“We’ll get some rest. This team was on fumes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said after his club wrapped up its third straight division title by beating the Kansas City Royals 11-5 on Saturday night while Chicago lost 9-6 to the Colorado Rockies.

Cleveland has won seven AL Central championships in the past 11 seasons — so the Guardians know how to celebrate.

After nearly an hour of dousing each other with bubbly in the clubhouse, drenched players spilled out of the visitors' dugout to continue their celebration and slip and slide on the tarp-covered Kauffman Stadium field as the rain began to fall harder.

“What an incredible accomplishment,” said Guardians president Chris Antonetti, who lauded the players, coaching staff and his front office for their hard work.

“But this is why we do it,” he said, gesturing to the celebration in the locker room.

The Guardians clinched a postseason berth with Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. They’ve earned a playoff spot eight times since 2016.

“There’s so many people that have contributed to this win, this championship, and I think that’s what makes this feel really good,” Vogt said. “I think that’s the story of this year, how deep the roster was.”

Vogt is the eighth manager to guide a team to the postseason in each of his first three seasons, and the 2026 title required his most creative efforts. That included overcoming injuries to José Ramírez, Angel Martínez and rookie Chase DeLauter.

“We were without three of our best hitters for over a month and the boys held it together,” Vogt said. “They held the season together. Our season could have gone very differently.”

The Guardians tried to bolster the club with the trade-deadline acquisitions of outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, left-hander Foster Griffin and right-hander Craig Yoho.

Yet the Guardians trailed Chicago by six games on Aug. 16. Then they won 25 of the next 36, including 15 of the past 21.

“What this team did over the last 21 games was really special,” Vogt said. “(The players) deserve all the credit.”

The White Sox led or were tied for first in the AL Central from July 4 until Sept. 16.

Cleveland became the first team since divisional play began in 1969 to win consecutive division titles after being at least six games back through 125 games in both years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I feel like the thing about us, the stretch we had after the All-Star break, the majority of teams could have folded,” said Tanner Bibee, the winning pitcher Saturday.

“We could have went back in our shell, but we knew it was going to flip. If you show up every day on the field in the same way, usually the baseball gods reward you in a good way.”

Cleveland will wrap up its regular season Sunday, then will be off until opening a best-of-five Division Series at home next Saturday.

Bibee, whose 15 losses are tied for the major league lead, sees the playoffs as a reset.

“At this point, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Everyone’s at zero when it gets to October. The stats don’t matter. Only wins do now. That’s the beautiful thing about October.”

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges celebrates in the clubhouse after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians team members celebrate after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martinez celebrates in the clubhouse with teammates after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges celebrates in the clubhouse after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians players celebrate with manager Stephen Vogt, rigtht, after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)