(WGN) — A group has unveiled new whistleblower documents accusing Pope Leo XIV of mishandling abuse allegations while he was a bishop in Peru.
The documents, presented by a group known as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), claim the pontiff mishandled clergy sex abuse cases, leading to them being swept under the rug.
“This is the underground story of [Robert] Prevost,” SNAP Founder and Global Affairs Chair Peter Isely said. “This is the side of him and his management and his decisions that we’re finally able to bring to light.”
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SNAP filed a complaint on March 25 against then-Cardinal Prevost with the Vatican Secretary of State, claiming he abused clerical power in the handling of abuse cases.
“The reason we filed that complaint—and we filed six of them at that time—it wasn’t because of any personal vendetta that we had against Prevost,” SNAP Activist Sarah Pearson said. “He held this very important position at the de Castro for bishops, where he was then put in charge of managing the conduct of all of these bishops around the world.
“It raised alarms for us, and we believe that what we had seen in their open letter reached a level of proof that we needed to demand an investigation. And that’s what we did.”
Two cases in SNAP’s complaint relate to alleged incidents in Chicago.
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One case pertained to a then-priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago, who was placed on restricted ministry in 1990 due to...
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