POPE Leo XIV has been accused of “looking the other way”; over sexual abuse claims against several Catholic priests he worked with.
The historic , whose real name is , is already facing serious scrutiny by survivors’ groups over how he responded to three accusations in the past.
Prevost, 69, has served the Catholic Church for decades with his work taking him across the world from his native to a seminary in .
But during his time as an ordained priest he is accused of looking the other way when allegations of abuse in the US and were uncovered.
Prevost allegedly ignored sick accusations that Augustinian priest Father James Ray sexually abused minors in the years before the pair worked together in Chicago, the survivors’ group claims.
Ray was allowed to live at the St. John Stone Friary inHyde Parkdespite him being removed from ministering to the public nine years earlier.
The friary sat just half a block away from an elementary school at the time.
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It is alleged that Prevost refused to notify heads at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic school of Ray’s past, reports Will County Gazette.
The priest was later relocated away from the school under new rules which aimed to keep those accused of abuse as far away from children as they could.
Two further priests in Peru also faced accusations of sexual abuse under Prevost’s watch, it is claimed.
Prevost was hit with criticism over how he dealt with the allegations as he was the head of the Diocese of Chiclayo where the men worked between 2014 to 2023.
Catholic news outlet The Pillar investigated the claims in 2022 and say they believe the church should have handled allegations by three sisters against a father at Diocese of Chiclayo better.
Allegations were later made against a separate priest at the same South American church, The Pillar reported.
The alleged victims claimed in a statement the Diocese downplayed details and documentation around their allegations.
They claim they were told that the probe “was shelved for lack of evidence and because the statute of limitations had expired”;, according to The Pillar.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), laid blame on Prevost for not having opened a formal church investigation into the claims himself.
Lopez de Casas, a child victim of abuse by a priest and national vice president of SNAP, has now blasted the newly-elected Pope after his election.
He told MailOnline: “You can’t cover up sexual abuse and be a good priest.
“Staying silent is a sin. It’s not what God wants us to do.
“Jesus wants us to stop these things, not make a heathy garden for sexual abuse to grow.”;
SNAP and other survivors’ groups said they laid out all of the information they had found on Prevost to the cardinals taking part in the Conclave.
They also wrote a letter to the Vatican slamming what it described as Prevost’s inaction in Peru and Chicago.
De Casas added:“He was high on our watchlist at SNAP to make sure he was not selected for pope.”;
But on Thursday evening, Prevost becameafter less than 25 hours of voting in the Sistine Chapel.
The dark horse beat odds of 66/1 to become God’s messenger onbefore being unveiled to crowds of the faithful in.
Despite being disappointed in the result, de Casas says he hopes it will only help to further highlight sexual abuse scandals which have .
The SNAP vice president said: “For them to chose a cardinal who has hidden sexual abuse and is American only means that this person will be scrutinised from left to right.
“That’s helpful for victims everywhere because we have this pope who will be under the public eye in terms of things he was involved with in the past.”;
It comes just weeks after a top lawyer for Catholic Church sex abuse survivors told The Sun he has in whoever is nominated to lead the Vatican following the death of .
Francis took steps to place a spotlight on clergy child sex abuse cases that have been a stain on the Catholic Church for decades.
But following his tragic passing, their are now fears that the systemic issues may be played off.
Boston-based attorney Mitchell Garabedian told The U.S. Sun: “The Catholic Church has not changed its ways in preventing child abuse or helping survivors trying to heal.
“Survivors do not have much faith in the Catholic Church all of a sudden changing.
He added: “I think many survivors feel as though the church never cared about survivors and never will.”;
