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

Pope Leo XIV appears at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for his first Sunday blessing after his election, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, May 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

AP

May 21, 2025

By Sophia Tareen

CHICAGO (AP) — Survivors of clergy sexual abuse amplified calls Tuesday for a global zero-tolerance policy 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 Network 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, told 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 scandal has plagued the Catholic Church

No one has accused the new pope of any act of abuse himself or knowingly keeping confirmed abusers in public ministry, which has been the biggest scandal plaguing the Catholic Church recently.

Instead, victims’ advocates said he should have involved authorities 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 finally able to bring to light,” said Peter Isely with SNAP.

Some 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 1999. Three years later, he became worldwide leader of the Augustinians.

One priest who faced dozens of abuse allegations left the church in 1993 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 officials learned about the abuse claims.

“Had Shedd Aquarium received any information regarding the kind of allegations that have been brought to our attention, we would not have hired this individual,” a 2003 letter from the aquarium said.

Advocates said Prevost inherited the case when he became Augustinian provincial leader and should have stepped in earlier, considering the priest’s new job working directly with children.

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