VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Big Easy Magazine [New Orleans LA]
May 15, 2025
By Scott Ploof
Although there is no evidence directly tying Pope Leo XIV—formerly Robert Prevost—to acts of abuse, his record as an administrator places him at the center of a pattern survivors say is all too familiar: cases of clergy sexual abuse mishandled, minimized, or allowed to languish in secrecy under his watch. These patterns are not unique to Pope Leo XIV, but emblematic of a broader crisis that has plagued the Catholic Church for generations, a crisis where the protection of the institution has often taken precedence over justice for survivors.
In New Orleans, where Prevost’s Creole roots and local ties have generated pride among many Catholics, his ascension to the papacy has been widely celebrated as a historic moment for the city’s Catholic community. Yet for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates, those hometown connections only sharpen the sting. What makes Pope Leo XIV’s rise particularly troubling for many victims is not only his proximity to these cases but the sheer volume of them that crossed his desk throughout his long career. From Chicago to Chiclayo, from his global leadership of the Augustinian Order to the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops, survivors argue that his legacy is not one of reform, but of institutional maintenance and clerical protectionism.
At a time when survivors and advocates are demanding not just apologies but radical structural reform—open archives, independent investigations, lay oversight—the election of a pope with a track record they see as negligent, opaque, and defensive has raised alarms. Will the man now occupying the Chair of Saint Peter break the Church’s patterns of secrecy and betrayal? Or will his papacy entrench them further?
In New Orleans, where the Archdiocese remains locked in a legal battle over its own history of abuse cover-ups, survivors like Richard Windmann, president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse (SCSA), say they’ve seen enough.
“Nothing changes,” Windmann told Big Easy Magazine. “These cases get delayed, the perpetrators get reassigned, the victims get ignored, and the Vatican pretends it’s all been handled. Survivors like me are still waiting. Still fighting. And now, we’re supposed to believe the man who oversaw these failures will be the one to fix them? We’re not buying it.”
Chicago Shadows – The Case of Father James Ray
In the early 2000s, Robert Prevost, then Prior Provincial of the Midwest Augustinians, faced scrutiny over his decision to allow Father James Ray, a priest who had been removed from public ministry since 1991 after credible allegations of sexually abusing minors, to live at St. John Stone Friary. The friary, located in Hyde Park, Chicago, was situated just blocks from a Catholic elementary school.
While the Archdiocese of Chicago’s public database confirms Ray’s removal from ministry due to credible allegations, no public records show direct intervention by the Archdiocese’s review board regarding his specific housing at the friary. However, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times, the decision caused concern within the local Catholic community and drew condemnation from survivor advocacy groups, who argued that it was an example of the Church placing institutional comfort above public safety.
Survivor advocates have consistently pointed to this case as emblematic of the Church’s broader pattern of quietly housing accused priests in Church-owned residences, sometimes near schools or parishes, without informing the public. SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) has documented similar cases across the country, criticizing such practices as perpetuating secrecy and endangering children.
Ray continued to live at the friary until 2002, when the implementation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People prompted his removal from the Hyde Park location.
In 2024, the Midwest Augustinians finally published a list of clergy found to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, years after other dioceses and orders had already done so. The delay drew further criticism from survivors, who argued that the order’s reluctance to release names perpetuated harm and demonstrated a pattern of institutional secrecy under leadership that included Prevost’s tenure.
A Pattern of Secrecy – The Augustinians’ Delayed Transparency
During Robert Prevost’s tenure as Prior Provincial of the Midwest Augustinians from 1998 to 2001, the order faced criticism for its handling of sexual abuse allegations. Notably, the Augustinians did not release a public list of credibly accused clergy until 2024, lagging behind many other Catholic institutions that had taken similar steps much earlier.
This delay in transparency became a focal point for survivor advocacy groups, who argued that the order’s reluctance to disclose the names of accused clergy hindered accountability and justice for victims. The eventual release of the list in 2024 was seen by some as a response to mounting public pressure and media scrutiny.
One case that drew significant attention was that of Father Richard McGrath, former president of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois. McGrath was accused of possessing child pornography and sexually abusing a student. In 2023, the Augustinians settled a lawsuit related to these allegations for $2 million. Despite the severity of the accusations and the substantial settlement, McGrath’s name was notably absent from the list of credibly accused clergy released by the order.
Critics argue that the omission of McGrath’s name from the list reflects a broader pattern of secrecy and a failure to fully acknowledge and address past abuses within the order. The Augustinians have stated that the allegations against McGrath were not substantiated according to their internal standards, a position that has been met with skepticism by survivor advocates and the public.
Global Scrutiny – Allegations from Peru
During Robert Prevost’s tenure as Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru (2015–2023), concerns arose regarding his handling of sexual abuse allegations within the diocese. According to The Guardian, in April 2022, three women came forward accusing two priests—Eleuterio Vásquez Gonzales and Ricardo Yesquén—of sexually abusing them beginning in 2007, when they were minors. The diocese, under Prevost’s leadership, forwarded information about the case to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which later closed the case without a finding.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) filed a formal complaint in March 2025, alleging that Prevost failed to adequately investigate the claims and did not provide sufficient support to the victims. The complaint also stated that one of the accused priests continued to celebrate Mass publicly despite being suspended.
Prevost has not been accused of abuse himself or of knowingly retaining abusers in ministry. However, critics argue that his responses to abuse allegations in both Chicago and Peru were insufficient and lacked transparency.
In contrast, some advocates, including journalist Pedro Salinas, have praised Prevost for his efforts to confront abuse within the Church, particularly his role in addressing misconduct within the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a lay group that was eventually dissolved by the Vatican.
Critics argue that Prevost’s responses to abuse allegations in both Chicago and Peru reflected a pattern of institutional delay and inadequate transparency. In a public statement following Prevost’s election as pope, the Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse (SCSA), a survivor-led advocacy organization, denounced his handling of these cases as emblematic of the Church’s global failure to put survivors first. SCSA, which has been active in exposing the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy tactics, pointed to Prevost’s decisions in Peru as further evidence that survivors’ needs were routinely sidelined in favor of institutional protection.
Vatican Response and Survivor Demands
Following the election of Pope Leo XIV (formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost) on May 8, 2025, survivor advocacy groups, including the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse (SCSA), expressed grave concerns regarding his past handling of sexual abuse cases. SNAP filed a formal complaint in March 2025, alleging that Prevost failed to adequately investigate abuse allegations in both Chicago and Peru. SCSA described his election as “an insult,” highlighting a pattern of institutional failure to address clergy abuse effectively.
In response to these concerns, Pope Leo XIV has taken initial steps to address the Church’s handling of sexual abuse. Within the first week of his papacy, he met with Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, signaling a commitment to prioritize this issue.
Furthermore, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading expert on the abuse crisis, has defended Pope Leo XIV’s record, noting his participation in the inauguration of the Centre for Child Protection and a safeguarding summit at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Zollner emphasized that Prevost has been responsive to abuse cases and has allowed processes to achieve justice.
Despite these actions, survivor groups continue to call for more decisive measures. SNAP has urged Pope Leo XIV to implement a universal zero-tolerance policy for abuse and cover-ups within the Church, establish an independent global truth commission, and create a survivor-funded reparations fund supported by Church assets.
As Pope Leo XIV’s papacy progresses, the global Catholic community and survivor advocates alike await substantive reforms that address past failures and prevent future abuses.
Survivor Advocacy Groups React to Pope Leo XIV’s Election
The election of Pope Leo XIV (formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost) on May 8, 2025, has elicited strong reactions from survivor advocacy groups, particularly the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse (SCSA).
SNAP expressed grave concern over Pope Leo XIV’s past handling of sexual abuse cases, citing instances during his tenure in both Chicago and Peru. They highlighted his decision to allow Father James Ray, a priest removed from ministry due to credible abuse allegations, to reside near a Catholic elementary school in Chicago. Additionally, they pointed to his inadequate response to abuse allegations in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where victims reported a lack of thorough investigation and support.
In a statement released to The Guardian, SCSA described Pope Leo XIV’s election as “an insult,” emphasizing that “the Catholic hierarchy has not merely mishandled abuse allegations – it industrialized the process. Pope Leo XIV … was in the rooms for all of it.”
Both organizations have called for Pope Leo XIV to implement a universal zero-tolerance policy for abuse and cover-ups within the Church, establish an independent global truth commission, and create a survivor-funded reparations fund supported by Church assets.
As Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy, survivor advocacy groups continue to urge him to prioritize transparency, accountability, and justice for victims of clergy sexual abuse.
In New Orleans, where survivors have been fighting a prolonged battle against the Archdiocese’s bankruptcy maneuvers, the reaction was equally fierce. Richard Windmann, president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse (SCSA) and a survivor himself, issued a blistering statement to Big Easy Magazine, condemning Pope Leo XIV’s ascension:
“Pope Leo XIV Guilty CCLXV, what a crown you wear, not of thorns, but of rot and ruin. You do not sit upon the Throne of St. Peter; you squat atop a millennia-old empire of secrets and sanctimony, inherited not from Christ, but from a long line of cowards wrapped in silk and shielded by ritual. You are no Vicar of the divine; you are the CEO of clerical complicity, a custodian of the Vatican’s vault of shame. Survivors know your name, not because of your sermons, but because of your silence. Tear it down, brick by brick, or history will do it for you, and she will not be merciful. Let it be known: the world hails not your hollow reign, but the fiancé of Sinead O’Connor. At this rate, your next vestment may be a Danish crown and a royal sash sewn with the threads of disgrace.”
Windmann’s words captured the frustration, rage, and exhaustion felt by many survivors around the world, who see the election of Pope Leo XIV not as a break from the past, but as a continuation of it. But beyond their anger, survivors like Windmann say their fight is also about reclaiming the Church’s spiritual heart from the institutions that have soiled it.
“Our intention is to give Christ’s Bride back to her in a better condition than we received and soiled her,” Windmann added. “That’s what this is really about.”
A Papacy at the Crossroads
The election of Pope Leo XIV marks a historic moment as the first American-born pontiff, bringing with it a renewed focus on the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse cases. While survivor advocacy groups have voiced concerns over his past decisions, Pope Leo XIV has acknowledged the gravity of the crisis and emphasized the need for transparency and accountability.
In his initial addresses, Pope Leo XIV has expressed a commitment to listening to survivors and implementing reforms to prevent future abuses. His past involvement in addressing misconduct within the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in Peru demonstrates a willingness to confront challenging issues within the Church.
As the global Catholic community looks to the future, Pope Leo XIV’s leadership will be pivotal in shaping the Church’s response to abuse cases. Balancing the expectations of survivors, clergy, and laity worldwide, his actions in the coming months will determine whether his papacy ushers in a new era of healing and reform.