New Pope Already Engulfed in Massive Scandal Just Hours After Being Elected as First American Pontiff: Report
The Catholic Church’s newly-elected Pope Leo XIV faces serious accusations just days after his historic selection as the first North American pontiff.
Robert Prevost, who ascended to the papacy on Thursday, stands accused of repeatedly ignoring child sex abuse allegations against priests under his supervision in both Chicago and South America.
Survivors’ advocacy groups claim they explicitly warned the 135 cardinals who selected Prevost about his troubling history of alleged inaction regarding abuse cases.
Despite these warnings, the College of Cardinals proceeded with his election.
“Staying silent is a sin. It’s not what God wants us to do. Jesus wants us to stop these things, not make a healthy garden for sexual abuse to grow,” stated Lopez de Casas, national vice president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in comments to the Daily Mail.
De Casas, himself a victim of clergy abuse, expressed dismay at Prevost’s selection.
“He was high on our watchlist at SNAP to make sure he was not selected for pope. But now, here we are,” he said.
Among the most concerning allegations involves Prevost’s time in Chicago, where he permitted Father James Ray to live at St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park despite Ray’s removal from public ministry nine years earlier due to accusations of sexually abusing minors.
Ray remained near the school for two years until the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops implemented new rules requiring priests accused of abusing minors to be kept physically distant from children.
Another disgraced priest, Father Richard McGrath, also lived at the friary during Prevost’s oversight.
McGrath had been removed as principal and president of Providence Catholic High School in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox after a student reported seeing nude images of boys on his phone.
Former Providence student Robert Krankvich accused McGrath of forcing him to perform various sex acts while he was a child.
After struggling with addiction throughout adulthood, Krankvich reached a $2 million settlement with the Catholic church before dying from addiction-related health issues in April.
“Money doesn’t bring happiness… it gave him no closure,” Krankvich’s father said, as outlined by the Daily Mail.
SNAP has highlighted that Prevost’s leadership role in the Midwest Augustinians from 1998 to 2014 included oversight of Providence High School.
Prevost allowed McGrath to prey on students for several years before his eventual removal in 2017, according to de Casas.
Prevost also faces scrutiny regarding his leadership in Peru.
As head of the Diocese of Chiclayo from 2014 to 2023, he allegedly failed to open formal church investigations into sexual abuse allegations against two priests.
The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, reported on accusations that the diocese mishandled allegations made by Ana Maria Quispe and her two younger sisters against Father Eleuterio Vásquez Gonzáles dating back to 2007.
The alleged victims claim that under Prevost’s watch in 2022, the Diocese downplayed details of their allegations sent to the Vatican, effectively preventing action against the accused priests.
Despite these serious allegations, Providence Catholic High School maintains close ties with the new pope.
The Daily Mail reported that the school’s current president, Father John Merkelis, attended seminary with Prevost in Michigan during the early 1970s and describes him as “very intelligent, sensitive, pastoral and always one of the best in his class.”
Some Catholic commentators remain hopeful about Prevost’s selection. Charles Collins, managing editor of Catholic publication Crux, told Sky News that “an American might be in a better position” to address ongoing abuse scandals, noting that “the United States government and state governments have been making really strong actions against priestly pedophilia, and he’s going to be very familiar with that.”
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He is to progressive and as a Catholic I’m very disappointed 😞