Pope Francis displays a Notre Dame pennant presented to him last week by Juan Carlos Cruz in the Vatican. Cruz, a survivor of clerical sexual abuse as a teen in his native Chile, was a panelist invited by University of Notre Dame President , to participate in the 2019-20 Notre Dame Forum, , on the sexual abuse crisis in the Church. Cruz also gave the pontiff a video with excerpts from the forum. Pope Francis, originally skeptical of Cruz's claims, later apologized and met with him in person for three hours. They have met periodically since.
The ND Forum series continues Nov. 13 with as special guest.