Mr Ryan praised the Pope’s sincerity and empathy, saying that he will never forget yesterday’s meeting with the Pontiff at the Vatican.
Mr Ryan, who featured in the RTÉ documentary "Blackrock Boys", is the first survivor of abuse to have a private audience with Pope Leo alone. Their meeting lasted around 45 minutes.
It is understood that the Pope has listened to the 2022 documentary, which prompted an apology from the Spiritan leader, and led to hundreds more allegations being made against 77 Irish Spiritans in ministries throughout Ireland and abroad.
A scoping inquiry report published in 2024 into sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders in Ireland identified 308 schools where alleged abuse took place. This, in turn, led to a commission of investigation being established into allegations of historical child sexual abuse.
Mr Ryan, a former Blackrock College pupil, told RTÉ he had brought a St Brigid’s Cross to the meeting, together with a photograph of his brother, Mark, who died suddenly in 2023.
Blackrock College, Dublin. (via RollingNews)
Neither had known at the time of their abuse in the 1970s that the other was also suffering. Visibly moved by his encounter with the Pope, Mr Ryan said: ‘What an experience to have. It made my day. I’m so glad I did it, and I think Mark would be happy.
"He gave a blessing to Mark’s photo that I had. He said he was so sorry to hear of my pain, for my family’s pain, and for the other survivors who haven’t come forward yet, and he said from me speaking to him today, he hoped other people would come forward and speak about it."
Pope Leo XIV has apologised to abuse survivor David Ryan, who featured in the RTÉ documentary 'Blackrock Boys', following a meeting between the two at the Vatican. Mr Ryan described the experience as amazing and credited the Pope for his empathyhttps://t.co/R2MJ2bxwzI
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 2, 2026
Mr Ryan wore cufflinks that belonged to Mark, along with a previously unworn shirt also given to him by his older brother.
He continued: "We spoke about Mark. He just listened to me. I put my questions to him.
"And we spoke about each question in length, and he will do everything he can. What a lovely man, a wonderful experience. I’ll never forget it. His sympathy, his empathy for survivors… he felt it, and he was sorry, and it was genuine, and I knew it was genuine.
"He felt my pain, but he hasn’t experienced my pain, but he knows what pain I have gone through, and my family," adding that Pope Leo "took a deep breath" before he answered each question put to him.
As well as speaking about Mark and the impact of the abuse on the wider Ryan family, he said they had talked about Blackrock College and St. Declan’s School on Northumberland Road, where Mr Ryan was also abused as a small child before attending secondary school.
Mr Ryan said he hoped others would now feel able to come forward and realise that any abuse they had suffered was not their fault.
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Deirdre Kenny, chief executive of One in Four, which supports abuse survivors, went to the Vatican to support Mr Ryan, and said she was invited into the room towards the end of the meeting.
She said Pope Leo asked her about One in Four and thanked her for the charity’s work. She described the meeting as relaxed, chilled, and human.
Liam O’Brien, producer of the "Blackrock Boys" documentary, said Mr Ryan had wanted to sit down with the head of the Church and "eyeball" him and tell him what had happened in his life, and how it had affected him, his family, his parents, his wider community, his friends, and the country as a whole.
"David is unique in that he has lived that experience and so he’s able to get a really simple message to the most powerful figure in the Catholic Church," he said.
When he was making the documentary, Mr O’Brien said, never in his or Mr Ryan’s "wildest dreams" did they think they’d end up visiting the Vatican.
Since his election last year, Pope Leo has met privately with victims and survivors of abuse on two previous occasions.
He met with members of the board of End Clergy Abuse, a coalition representing clergy sexual abuse survivors from more than 30 countries, in October.
In November, he met 15 people from Belgium who were victims of clerical abuse as minors.
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* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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