CORRECTION at 10:30 a.m. on 8/12/25: This story has been corrected to remove erroneous references to abuse victims being from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and that the organization referenced represents abuse survivors across the United States. We apologize for this error.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – An outreach effort from a Milwaukee-based organization representing survivors of clergy abuse throughout the United Staes has received a personal response from Pope Leo XIV himself.
The pontiff sent a personal message to abuse survivors 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 15:
“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.”
You can hear the full story with Larson on WTMJ Conversations on Sunday, August 24 at 11:00 a.m.
