Survivors of clergy sexual abuse turn up calls for reforms from new pope’s American hometown

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO AP Survivors of clergy sexual abuse amplified calls Tuesday for a global zero-tolerance strategy from the new pope s American hometown and raised questions about Leo XIV s history of dealing with accused priests from Chicago to Australia The Archdiocese of Chicago responded by defending Leo s record and saying he had consistently expressed his compassion for survivors of this crime and sin The cases span Robert Prevost s previous posts They include leading a Catholic religious order bishop and as head of the Vatican s office for bishops where he was made cardinal The Survivors Arrangement of those Abused by Priests or SNAP called out alleged abuse by Chicago priests and other clergy in Peru Colombia Canada and Australia where it contended the new pope should have done more Along with a worldwide zero-tolerance law for accused priests SNAP has called for a global truth commission survivor reparations and church transparency measures It is our hope that Pope Leo does the right thing Shaun Dougherty SNAP president reported reporters in Chicago It is our gut in our experience that says that he will need the pressure Associated Press requests for comment to the Vatican media office Tuesday and its diplomatic representative to the United States didn t receive immediate replies Clergy sexual abuse shame has plagued the Catholic Church No one has accused the new pope of any act of abuse himself or knowingly keeping ratified abusers in residents ministry which has been the biggest shame plaguing the Catholic Church not long ago Related Articles Fire at historic Black church in Memphis was intentionally set investigators say Why are more shoppers struggling to repay buy now pay later loans M slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to power grid sparking outcry Majority of US states now have laws banning or regulating cellphones in schools with more to follow New Orleans jail worker thought he was unclogging a toilet not helping escape lawyer says Instead casualties advocates announced he should have involved leadership earlier been vocal about accused priests and worked to strip them of their titles SNAP has been gathering evidence of how the church has covered for abusers and provided internal communications referencing cases including in Chicago This is the underground story of Prevost this is the side of him and his management and decisions that we re absolutely able to bring to light explained Peter Isely with SNAP Several cases span the time when Prevost was based in Chicago as the Midwest regional leader of the Order of St Augustine a job he took in Three years later he became worldwide leader of the Augustinians One priest who faced dozens of abuse statements left the church in before landing a job as a Shedd Aquarium tour guide on a recommendation from a top Augustinian official The priest worked at the popular tourist and school field trip destination in Chicago for nearly a decade before Shedd leaders learned about the abuse suggests Had Shedd Aquarium received any information regarding the kind of charges that have been brought to our attention we would not have hired this individual a letter from the aquarium commented Advocates declared Prevost inherited the episode when he became Augustinian provincial leader and should have stepped in earlier considering the priest s new job working directly with children Survivors of abuse want a global zero-tolerance guidelines Survivors have demanded the church adopt a global initiative that a priest be permanently removed from ministry for a single act of sexual abuse that is either admitted to or established according to church law That has been the approach in the U S church since the height of the U S disgrace in but the Vatican hasn t imposed it worldwide SNAP also cited a scenario in the Diocese of Chiclayo Peru which then-Bishop Prevost led from to Three women came forward in to accuse two priests of sexual abuse The diocese forwarded information about the affair to a Vatican office which closed the circumstance without a finding However the diocese later reopened the assessment after Prevost left for a Vatican post Critics commented Prevost failed to investigate sufficiently The Vatican and Prevost s successor determined Prevost acted correctly as far as church law is concerned The Vatican noted he imposed preliminary restrictions on the accused priest pending assessment by Peruvian bureaucrats who concluded that the statute of limitations had expired Archdiocese defends pope s record saying he followed church regulations The Archdiocese of Chicago issued a detailed five-point message responding to SNAP s press conference and defending the pope s record saying that in the various cases cited Prevost acted in accordance with the church s regulations at the time It noted that the Vatican had ascertained that Prevost acted correctly in Chiclayo because the accused was removed from ministry the persons bringing the assertions were offered victim assistance the charges were stated to civil executives and they were investigated at the diocesan level and stated to the Vatican as required the report noted As a bishop in Peru and then prefect at the Vatican Prevost was intimately involved in an inquiry into an influential Catholic movement in Peru Sodalitium Christianae Vitae which was suppressed earlier this year by Pope Francis because of alleged abuses As a product Prevost made plenty of enemies in the movement who have shared the claims against him on social media in what various in the Vatican say was a campaign to try to discredit him SNAP also cited Prevost s role from to leading the Dicastery for Bishops It cited cases of accused bishops from Canada Colombia and Australia who resigned amid abuse assertions but were allowed to retain their status as bishops While Prevost s office would have handled investigations of accused bishops the final decisions would have been those of Leo s predecessor Pope Francis because the pontiff has ultimate authority over bishops Associated Press writers Peter Smith in Pittsburgh and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this overview