Pope Leo and the Mishandling of Clergy Abuse

Claims of sexual assault and reprehensible sexual misconduct are, unfortunately, nothing new to the Roman Catholic Church. Over the years, a plethora of allegations, court cases, acknowledgments, apologies, and cover-ups alike have plagued the organization all throughout the world. The majority of these cases involve the sexual abuse of young boys and sometimes girls, typically between the ages of eleven and fourteen. 

Much of the time, the church has notoriously downplayed and sidestepped these accusations, oftentimes only attempting to rectify when pushed to, either by the public or by private individuals.

Although he now holds the lofty title of 267th bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, was once of a slightly smaller order. He served as Prior Provincial of the Order of St. Augustine’s Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago from 1998 to 2001, and later as bishop of the northern Peru town of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. In both of these positions, he was involved in cases of sexual misconduct brought against members of his clergy.

While serving as the Prior Provincial, he allowed an Augustinian priest, Father James Ray, to reside under supervision at the St. John Stone Friary of Chicago, just half a block away from St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Elementary School. This was after Ray had been previously suspended from public ministry and banned from being alone with minors after plausible accusations of sexual assault of thirteen minors had been levied against him in 1991. Prevost was allegedly made fully aware of these accusations when he asked to allow Ray to reside there, and he never made any attempt to notify the school.

Some time later, during his tenure as bishop of Chiclayo, three sexual assault cases involved   priests within his clergy. Three women came forward to Bishop Prevost to report that priests  Eleuterio Vásquez Gonzales and Ricardo Yesquen had sexually mistreated them as minors. These women said that Prevost had told them he believed them and encouraged them to report the priests in question to the police, which they did. 

However, the actions of the Bishop beyond this point were less supportive. 

The women stated that the church investigators had never reached out to them, and Bishop Prevost himself seemingly did very little on his end regarding the priests in question after being informed of this alleged behavior. Official statements say that the two priests in question were suspended from their ministry work. However, later uncovered pictures appeared to show Gonzales publicly observing Mass after his suspension.

The case against Gonzales was closed quite quickly by civil authorities who stated that the claims were beyond the statute of limitations. In other words, they claimed the case was too old to be tried. The Vatican followed suit, closing their own case and citing the decision of the civil authorities, as well as a lack of evidence.

While we may never know for certain what happened in these particular cases, the story itself is not new. 

No part of it. 

Misconduct has been both carried out and covered up by the Roman Catholic Church, including the widespread dismissal and downplaying of sexual misconduct. Pope Leo XIV is not unique in his potential hand-waving of severe misconduct. But, unfortunately, his response suggested to survivors that confiding in someone they trust may not always result in the justice they hope for. Yet survivors’ voices still hold power, and we should all commend these women for having the bravery to speak up about their experiences.