Abuse survivors launch Conclave Watch site profiling cardinals accused of covering up abuse

The Vatican says sexual abuse is among the issues cardinals are discussing ahead of the conclave, alongside the qualities the next pope will need to address it. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose reported from Rome that survivors are focusing attention on several cardinals whom they say covered up abuse.

Sarah Pearson, who is with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she was encouraged to hear cardinals discuss the issue. “That’s evidence that what survivors have been doing is working,” she said. SNAP has launched a project called Conclave Watch, a website that profiles various cardinals and outlines what those church leaders have done and left undone.

According to the report, the site uses the formal process established under Pope Francis’ decree “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” which allows any bishop or cardinal to be reported and investigated for abuse or cover-up. Conclave Watch includes the formal reports SNAP has sent to the Vatican, along with any supporting evidence the group has gathered. Pearson said the group is “taking the investigation outside of the hands of these Vatican officials and putting it in the hands of survivors.”

Peter Isley, one of the group’s founders, said he was sexually abused by a priest when he was 13. He said each of the cardinals profiled has dozens of priests in their dioceses who have been known to abuse children, and asked, “So what have they done with these cases? People need to know their record.” Isley encouraged cardinals to use the site to research one another before they vote. The source does not independently verify these claims about individual cardinals or dioceses.

DeRose reported that in the United States, the Catholic Church removes from ministry priests found guilty of abusing children, but that practice is not universal. To address that difference, Conclave Watch also includes a proposed new canon law, written by international human rights experts and canon lawyers, that would extend the U.S. standard worldwide. Isley said the drafters wanted the law to meet “both the standards of international law and canon law.” DeRose noted that in 2019, church leaders rejected a similar proposal, saying it endangered innocent priests in areas hostile to Catholics.

This week, Isley and others from SNAP are distributing copies of the model legislation to cardinals in Rome as they prepare to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church. (Mark 9:42)