The newly elected Pope Leo Xiv faces charges of “seeing it in another way” when a pastor in his Chicago and South American churches committed sexual abuse charges against children.
Robert Prevost, who became the first North American Pontiff on Thursday, was accused by a group of survivors ignoring the strong abuse allegations in the United States and Peru, fearing they were transferred to the cardinal who chose him.
“You can’t cover up sexual abuse and be a good pastor,” Lopez de Casas, national vice president of the Clergy Abuse and National Survivor Network, told dailymail.com.
Staying silent is a sin. This is not what God wants us to do. Jesus wants us to stop these things and not create a ridiculous garden for sexual abuse growth.
Prevost is said to have seen past charges in Chicago, at the residence of St. John Stone Park, Augustine priest James Ray, who was allowed to live in St. John Stone Park in Hyde Park, which was charged for abuse of minors despite being removed from office to public years.
The new pope apparently did not inform the head of the apostle Catholic school St. Thomas, an elementary school half a block from Frier, because the church said at the time that Ray should be closely monitored in Friary.
Prevost also faces criticism for not conducting a formal church investigation into alleged sexual abuse by two pastors in the Diocese of Chichilo, Peru, from 2014 to 2023.
Snap and other groups have made 135 qualified cardinals choose his inaction against Prevost on the allegations.
“Let them choose a cardinal who hides sexual abuse, and the United States only means that this person will be reviewed from left to right,” Lopez de Casas said.
“It’s helpful to victims around the world because we have this pope who will be publicly concerned about things he’s involved in the past,” he said.
Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as Pope on Thursday, named the Lion
Crowds are crowded in St. Peter’s Square and hear the first word of Pope Leo as Pope
Lopez de Casas, 65, added: “He is high on our surveillance list on Snap to make sure he was not elected as Pope. But now, we are here.
Lopez de Casas grew up in Galveston, Texas, and said he was abused by teachers in the public school system there.
Eduardo Lopez de Casas hopes Pope Leo’s election will light up sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church
His mother suspected something had happened to him, but could not point it out that he sent him to a parish pastor in Galveston who had him show him what the teacher had done to him.
He told dailymail.com: “Then I was abused by the pastor.”
Although he was a child, he said his parents were not native English speakers and never suggested reporting it to the authorities.
Among other criticisms, Prevost was criticized for not conducting a formal church investigation into alleged sexual abuse by two pastors in the diocese of Chicarlo, Peru, who led from 2014 to 2023.
The pillar is the Catholic news outlet investigating the church, which reported that the parish was inappropriate allegations, filed by Ana Maria Quispe and her two young sisters, Juana Mercedes and Aura Teresa, the father of Father Eletoerio Vásquez Gonzáles.
According to Pillar, charges were also filed against another pastor.
As Cardinal Prest, Pope Leo visits Providence Catholic High School in Chicago suburbs
Newly elected American Pope Leo XIV from a humble beginning in the southern suburbs of Chicago
The alleged victim said in a statement that the parish downplayed details and documents of its alleged charges sent to the Vatican in 2022 and intentionally prevented the church from taking action against the alleged pastor. They claimed that the church blows away their reports.
“This allegation is particularly important because Prevost is currently the head of the Bishop’s headquarters, overseeing investigations on negligence in bishops in abuse cases around the world.”
The media reported that Prevost met with the plaintiffs in April 2022 and encouraged them to bring their case to civil authorities when the church investigates.
The investigation was reportedly “was shelved due to lack of evidence and has expired due to restrictions.”
Other criticisms of neglecting sexual abuse came from Chicago where he grew up.
Covering the suburbs of the southwest of the city, as the Will County Gazette reported, Prest allowed a Augustine priest, Father James Ray, to live in the St. John Stoneford Islands of the St. John Stoneford Islands in Hyde Park, despite Ray rushing to the public from the public sector nine years ago on alleged allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
Prevost apparently did not inform the head of the Apostle Catholic school St. Thomas, an elementary school half a block and half a block from Frier, because the church said at the time that Ray should be closely monitored in Friare.
Covering the suburbs of the southwest of the city, as the Will County Gazette reported, Prest allowed a Augustine priest, Father James Ray, to live in the St. John Stoneford Islands of the St. John Stoneford Islands in Hyde Park, despite Ray rushing to the public from the public sector nine years ago on alleged allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
Ray was closely adjacent to the school for two years until he moved under new rules adopted by the American Catholic Bishops’ Conference to keep the priests accused of preying on minors away from children.
Cardinal Prevost
Cardinal Prevost held a service in March at St. Peter’s Square to pray for Pope Francis, whose health is not good
One of his last public actions before his election as the pope was to attend the Palm Sunday Mass in the Vatican on April 13
Pope Leo XIV has a religious education in a quaint 1,200-square-foot brick house in Dalton, Illinois
Another shameful priest also lives in Friare in his watch.
Father Richard McGrath, whose father was removed from office as the long-time principal of New Lenox, a Chicago suburb, and principal of Providence Catholic High School, after a student reported seeing nude photos of the boy on his phone.
Former Providence student Robert Krankvich accused McGrath of forcing him to have various sexual acts as a child. Krankvich continued to struggle with addiction for most of his adult life.
Krankvich died of addiction-related health issues after reaching a $2 million settlement with the Catholic Church.
‘Money does not bring happiness. . . This did not shut him off.
As part of his work, highlighting the Pope’s candidate, which says has covered up sexual abuse, Snap wrote to the Vatican, blasting the inaction of so-called Prevost in Peru and Chicago.
From 1998 to 2014, Prevost’s leadership roles at the Augustinians in the Midwest included supervising high schools. As Lopez de Casas, who worked in Galveston, Texas for 18 years, said Prevost allowed McGrath to prey on students there a few years before he was ousted in 2017.
Meanwhile, Providence Catholic High School maintains close ties with the new pope. In the early 1970s, Father John Merkelis attended seminary at Prevost, Netherlands, Michigan, where Prevost gave Mass. He described him as “very smart, sensitive, pastoral, and always one of the best in his class.”
He told Dailymail.com shortly after choosing Prevost option on Thursday. “We’re all laughing here.”
“It’s so cool to see the kids so excited,” added Theresa Thormeyer, administrative assistant to the school dean’s office.
Charles Collins, executive editor of Catholic publication Crux, told Sky News He hopes that “the Americans may be in a better position” to help resolve the ongoing abuse scandal.
“Frankly, the U.S. and state governments have been making very powerful actions against pedophiles against priests, and he will be very familiar with that,” he said. “He has the ability to succeed in many countries that have not handled it yet.”
