MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday promised victims of sexual violence by Catholic clergy that the Church would make “additional efforts” to change during a meeting in Madrid, the Vatican said.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics spent an hour with six victims of sexual violence by the clergy on day three of a state visit to Spain where the issue has come up regularly.

Each victim spoke of their “painful personal experience” and put forward proposals “for making the Church’s response to such tragic cases more effective”, the Vatican said in a statement.