(NJ)
NorthJersey.com [Woodland Park NJ]
May 6, 2025
By Deena Yellin
Key Points
- Advocates for survivors said religious sexual abuse should be the “deciding issue” when it comes to choosing the next pope.
- The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has launched “Conclave Watch,” a database to track the record of Catholic cardinals in their handling of abuse cases.
- The group also called on the next pope to implement a “zero tolerance law” to guide the Catholic Church.
On the heels of his death last month at age 88, Pope Francis has been widely praised for his devotion to social justice and his welcoming attitude toward immigrants, the LGBTQ community and others who felt marginalized.
But when it came to aiding victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, the pontiff leaves a mixed legacy, critics say.
In New Jersey, where the state is battling the church over an investigation into decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups, survivors and their advocates say that while Francis acknowledged the problem, he failed to implement policies that would rid the Catholic Church of its abusers.
“Pope Francis failed victims and their families by not enacting a global zero tolerance of clergy abuse and ending the culture of secrecy,” said William Crane, who was abused by clergy when he was growing up in Mendham.
With preparations underway to select the pope’s successor at the upcoming conclave ― scheduled to begin May 7 ― abuse survivors are urging the College of Cardinals to choose a leader who will tackle the issue of abuse in the church. The Vatican agreed last week that clergy abuse is among the most pressing challenges for Francis’ successor.
The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has launched “Conclave Watch,” a database to track the record of Catholic cardinals in their handling of abuse cases. The initiative aims to shine a light on the records of clergy who advocates say were guilty of or complicit in abuse. The group also called on the next pope to implement a “zero tolerance law,” to be the law of the Catholic Church.
Mark Crawford, of Woodbridge, a clergy abuse survivor and the New Jersey director of SNAP, said it’s essential that the new pope be someone who “hasn’t covered for or protected a known abuser of children … We need a pope who will be unwavering in holding those who cover for abusers accountable.”
The issue of clergy and religious sexual abuse should be the “deciding issue” when it comes to choosing the next pope, said Robert Hoatson of West Orange, the founder of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit that helps survivors of clergy abuse. “It will be futile if the next pope declares that the clergy sexual abuse scandal is over or that it has already been handled.”
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But some experts said Francis did make progress, and that it’s difficult to transform the entire Catholic Church overnight.
Kevin Ahern, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan University, credited Francis with introducing a series “of structural and policy changes within the Vatican, notably the creation of a Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014 and the lifting of the pontifical secret related to abuse cases.”
The pope took seriously the need to meet with victims and listen to them, Ahern said. And in Francis’ famous 2018 letter to the Chilean people, he passionately asserted that the culture of abuse and cover-up must end.
Francis also hosted a summit for bishops on abuse in 2019 and issued a new instruction, Vos estis lux mundi, which eliminated secrecy in dealing with sexual abuse by clergy.
“For many abuse victims, who were used to being ignored and overlooked, this offered a refreshing model of someone who was willing to listen and take them seriously,” Ahern said. “His efforts at introducing a more listening or synodal church could, if developed by the next pope, go a long way in addressing the evils of clericalism and secrecy, which are often at the roots of the abuse crisis and cover-up.”Local: Could New Jersey’s Cardinal Tobin be the next pope? He could play key role at conclave
After a church investigation determined that abuse allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick were credible, Francis removed the former archbishop of Newark (1986-2000) and former bishop of Metuchen (1981-86) from the priesthood. Francis subsequently published a detailed report disclosing complicity by several bishops.
But advocates for victims of priest abuse said such initiatives didn’t go far enough.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability, a watchdog group based in Waltham, Massachusetts, said that instead of implementing changes in the church that would help prevent abuse, Francis maintained a culture of secrecy and “defended and protected” offending clerics.
“We needed Pope Francis to permanently remove abusers from ministry and decisively punish enablers. We needed him to rid canon law of its bias in favor of accused priests,” Doyle said in a written statement. “We needed him to follow through on his promises of transparency, by releasing abuse data.”
In 2019, New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses released lists of accused clergy, but Francis never did.
The culture and global footprint of the church makes such a transformation difficult, experts say.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who represents numerous victims of clergy abuse around the country, said the blame shouldn’t fall solely on the late pontiff.
“Although Pope Francis had good intentions when denouncing clergy sexual abuse, he was met with great resistance within the Catholic Church when attempting to effectuate any meaningful change,” Garabedian said.