VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
entrevue.fr [Dubai Sinon Oasis, United Arab Emirates]
May 11, 2025
The new pope, Leo XIV, elected Thursday under the birth name of Cardinal Robert Prevost, is already facing calls from victims’ groups for a thorough review of his handling of sexual abuse cases in his former jurisdictions, notably in Chicago and Peru. Although he has not been accused of any acts of abuse, some denounce a lack of transparency and an insufficient response to cases reported under his authority.
“It is up to Pope Leo XIV to earn the trust of the victims and their families,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, which advocates for transparency in abuse cases. The organization criticizes Prevost for never publishing the list of accused priests in the dioceses he led, unlike other Church officials. It also accuses him of maintaining a certain opacity in the disciplinary treatment of bishops under his authority at the Vatican.
In March, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) formally filed a complaint with the Holy See, accusing Prevost of abuse of power in two separate cases. One concerns the presence at a Chicago convent between 2000 and 2002 of an accused priest, James Ray, who had been under archdiocesan restrictions since 1990. The other case took place in Peru, where Prevost served as bishop of Chiclayo. Three women there accused two priests of abuse dating back to 2007, when they were minors. According to the complaint, the diocese failed to interview the complainants or alert civil authorities.
His successor in Peru, Bishop Edinson Farfán, however, defended Prevost’s handling, stressing that he had imposed preliminary restrictions in accordance with current standards. The Vatican ultimately closed the case due to insufficient evidence, after Peruvian civil authorities dismissed the matter as statute-barred.
Prevost has nevertheless received praise for his role in confronting the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peruvian Catholic community dissolved this year by Pope Francis due to sexual abuse and financial misconduct. One of the founders of the Ending Clergy Abuse movement, journalist Pedro Salinas, praised Prevost’s support at the time, saying he stood in solidarity with survivors “when others weren’t.”
In Rome, some hope that the election of Leo XIV will mark a new era. “The world is waiting. Let this pope be defined not by the crisis he inherits, but by how he ends it,” said Gemma Hickey, president of Ending Clergy Abuse.
In a 2023 interview, Prevost acknowledged the progress made in addressing abuse by some bishops, while admitting that many remained poorly trained. He stated at the time: “Silence is not a solution. We must be transparent, honest, and support victims.” Now, everyone is waiting to see if he will apply these principles at the top of the Church.