ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his upcoming trip to Latin America, which will take the American pope to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the Vatican said Tuesday.
The Vatican statement didn’t say when the encounters would take place or where, but said “several meetings are planned,” suggesting more than one encounter. The Nov. 6-17 trip is going ahead as planned despite Leo's Oct. 13 lung cancer surgery which had put the trip in question.
Continuing the practice of his two recent predecessors, Leo met with abuse survivors in June in Spain and most recently in France. Ahead of the French trip, the Vatican confirmed the meeting ahead of time rather than after it took place, as had been the previous practice.
“These meetings reflect the pope’s desire to express his solidarity with those who have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of this violence, to work with them to build paths to healing that are accessible to anyone in need, and to ensure that the church is a safe and spiritually healthy place that lives out and communicates the Gospel,” according to a Vatican statement Tuesday.
Leo spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru, and he saw first-hand the effects of abuse on victims. He was the designated bishop in the Peruvian bishops conference to hear from victims of an influential but abusive movement, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.
The former Cardinal Robert Prevost then was instrumental in Pope Francis’ decision in 2025 to suppress the movement.
Francis’ native Argentina, for its part, has had a wretched reckoning with abuse and victims there have been demanding action from the Vatican, including to address cases in which Francis was personally involved.
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Pope Leo XIV blesses faithful during an audience with participants of the Jesus Youth International Conference in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV greets participants in an audience with the Jesus Youth International Conference in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
An escaped Tennessee inmate convicted of murdering a co-worker stole a truck from a nearby farm and apparently made it to southern Illinois before abandoning it, authorities said Tuesday.
Jacob Morley, who was serving a life sentence for killing a co-worker four years ago, was found to be missing from the Northwest Correctional Complex late on Sunday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released surveillance video from the farm, which is near Tiptonville and about a 2-mile (3-kilometer) walk through fields from the prison, showing Morley open the truck's unlocked driver's side door and drive off at about 1 a.m. Monday.
Firefighters in Hornbeak, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) east of the farm, said on social media that investigators confirmed their cameras captured footage of the truck driving by their station about 15 minutes later.
The truck was found abandoned Tuesday in Marion, Illinois, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of the prison and roughly 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis, but Tennessee investigators said Morley still hadn't been found.
Authorities said Morley, 28, slipped through a fence in his prison clothes, but they haven't released additional details, including whether they think anyone helped him.
Morley is white, 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 meters) tall and weighs 240 pounds (109 kilograms). He has brown hair and green eyes.
Morley is serving a life sentence for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield’s body was found in a box under Morley’s home after he had been missing for a few weeks. The two lived in Carter County, in eastern Tennessee.
Along with first-degree murder, Morley was convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. When Morley saw deputies at his home, he led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities said.
Prison officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for Morley's arrest. They said law enforcement agencies have searched buildings and other structures near the prison, which is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Memphis in flat farmland near a bend in the Mississippi River.
Several violent attacks between inmates and by employees have been reported in recent years at Northwest Correctional Complex. A grand jury in July returned dozens of indictments for five inmate killings and other violent acts.
Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 men and can house minors who have been convicted as adults, according to the Department of Correction.
This booking photo released by the Tennessee Department of Corrections on July 24, 2025, shows Jacob Morley. (Tennessee Department of Corrections via AP)
