Victims group claims Pope Leo XIV has a history of mishandling cases of sexual abuse committed by priests

A group representing survivors of clergy abuse alleges Pope Leo XIV has a poor track record handling allegations of sexual assault committed by priests and clerics.That includes when he ran the Midwest Augustinian Province over two decades ago, when he was a bishop in Peru and most recently as the Dicastery for Bishops at the Vatican.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called on the pope to enshrine in canon law that the Catholic Church has zero tolerance for sexually assaulting children and any clergy member who does so should be permanently removed from the church.

“There is no global zero-tolerance law in the Roman Catholic Church,” said Peter Isley, global affairs chair for SNAP. “That’s why when it comes to the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults and the cover up of these crimes, there has been no justice.”

Church officials did not respond to the Sun-Times’ request for comment.

Isley, alongside his colleagues from SNAP, laid out for reporters Tuesday morning the “incontrovertible” proof that Robert Prevost was involved in the cover-up of sex crimes committed by priests. James Ray, a former Chicago priest accused of molesting at least 13 children, is on that list.

Years after he was accused of assault, Ray was moved to a Hyde Park Augustinian monastery near a Catholic grade school and a daycare center. He told the Sun-Times Prevost signed off on the move.

Another case involves three sisters in Chiclayo, Peru, when Prevost was bishop there. The three women allege they were assaulted by a priest while they were young girls, said Sarah Pearson, a spokesperson for SNAP.

In 2022, the women told Prevost about the abuse, and he told them he believed them. However, he never opened an investigation, Pearson said. Last summer, the new bishop at the Diocese of Chiclayo says the case was “improperly handled,” according to SNAP.

In addition to the zero-tolerance law, SNAP is calling on the Vatican to provide reparations for survivors, enter into international legal agreements, and establish an independent panel of survivors and experts overseeing how bishops handle abuse cases.