A survivors’ group has accused the newly newly-elected Pope Leo XIV ‘looking the other way’ when confronted with child sex abuse allegations against a Priest in his Chicago and South American churches.
According to Daily Mail, the allegations were raised U.S. and in Peru – concerns they relayed to the Cardinals who selected Robert Prevost, who became the first North American pontiff on Thursday, May 8th 2025.
‘You can’t cover up sexual abuse and be a good priest,’ Lopez de Casas, a victim of clergy abuse and national vice president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told DailyMail.com.
‘Staying silent is a sin. It’s not what God wants us to do. Jesus wants us to stop these things, not make a heathy garden for sexual abuse to grow.’
Prevost was said to have looked past allegations in Chicago, where he grew up, after Augustinian priest Father James Ray was allowed to live at the St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park despite having been removed from ministering to the public years prior over accusations of abusing minors.
The new pope apparently didn’t notify the heads of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic school, an elementary school half a block from the friary because, the church said at the time, Ray was supposed to be closely monitored in the friary.
Provost also faced criticism for not having opened a formal church investigation into alleged sexual abuse carried out by two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which he led from 2014 to 2023.
SNAP and other groups had made the 135 eligible cardinals who selected him well aware of Prevost’s inaction on the allegations.
‘For them to chose a cardinal who has hidden sexual abuse and is American only means that this person will be scrutinized from left to right,’ said Lopez de Casas, who hopes Prevost’s election will shine a brighter light on abuse within the Church.
‘That’s helpful for victims everywhere because we have this pope who will be under the public eye in terms of things he was involved with in the past,’ told the Newspaper.
TheNewspad reports that the new Catholic church leader was unveiled after a conclave of 133 Cardinals who converged on the Sistine Chapel for an ultra secretive voting process.
69-year-old Pontiff, succeeded Pope Francis who died last month at 88, was elected in a similar amount of time in 2013, after five ballots on the second day of that conclave.
His papal name was announced with the words ‘Habemus Papam’ – Latin for ‘we have a pope’.
He stepped out onto St Peter’s balcony on Thursday evening to greet the crowds gathered in the square – and the world – for the first time as the 267th pope.
White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, in the air indicating the next pope has been chosen.
There were scenes of jubilation at the Vatican today, with nuns, priests and Civilians all in tears.
Earlier, cardinals had returned to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday to resume voting for a new pope, after a first conclave ballot failed to find a winner and sent black smoke billowing through the chapel chimney.
They had to secure the two-thirds majority, or 89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th pope.
Casting and counting ballots for a new pope had have taken longer than expected on Wednesday evening because of the large number of cardinals participating and the linguistic diversity among them.
Thousands of people descended on the Vatican to waited for the conclave to reach a decision as crowd of people waited with baited breath for the conclave to reach a decision during the voting that was held behind-closed-doors in Casa Santa Marta shortly before 5pm UK time on Wednesday.
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