ST. JOHN’S — An advocate for victims of clergy abuse says they are cautiously optimistic about Pope Leo XIV, but they are keeping a close eye on recently surfaced allegations that he previously sheltered those accused of abuse.
Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey is the board president of Ending Clergy Abuse, and they are in Rome this week to advocate for the church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for clergy abuse.
Hickey says survivors have mixed reviews about Leo, which is the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday, and it’s too early to get a read on his past.
In March, the Chicago-based group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests filed complaints about Prevost with Vatican officials, alleging he failed to investigate claims of abuse by a priest in Peru.
The group also said Prevost didn’t alert authorities at a Chicago elementary school when a priest forbidden to be alone with minors because he was accused of sexual abuse was residing at a nearby friary in the early 2000s.
But some advocates, including Pedro Salinas, a founding member of Ending Clergy Abuse, credits Prevost with supporting survivors of an abusive, Peru-based Catholic movement that was eventually dissolved by the late Pope Francis.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
