Laura Loomer will be all over this:
From another source...Leo XIV arrives to the papacy with controversy in tow. In recent months, and more explicitly in the hours leading up to the conclave, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been the subject of a campaign orchestrated by ultraconservative sectors of the Church.
The accusation centers around his alleged cover-up of several sexual abuse cases committed by a Peruvian priest in 2004. According to this version, Prevost was aware of the cases and failed to investigate them in 2022, when he was serving as the bishop of Sufar and apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, located on the northern coast of Peru. The Vatican has firmly denied these accusations.
[...]
The dossier against Prevost — released by some unreliable digital outlets — claims that in April 2022, three sisters met with the bishop to report that two priests from his diocese had abused them in 2004 when they were between the ages of nine and 14. According to the accusers, Prevost told them that the Church had no means to investigate the matter, although he encouraged them to report it to civil authorities, assuring them that an investigation would be initiated within the Church once the case was reported.
The sisters claimed that Prevost referred them to the Listening Center, an institution created by the bishop just weeks earlier to help abuse victims. According to the dossier, the sisters then approached the police to file a report but were told that the case had already expired due to the statute of limitations.
The 18-page report also accuses Prevost of covering up another sexual abuse case involving a priest in Chicago, when the now Pontiff was the provincial superior of the Augustinians. The Vatican states that it has investigated these allegations as well and found no evidence to support them. The same sources suggest it is suspicious that this attack on Prevost came just before the conclave, when his name was already being considered as a potential papal candidate.
[...]
On Thursday afternoon, one hour after Prevost appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica already vested as Leo XIV, Peruvian journalist Pedro Salinas, who has extensively investigated the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae movement — an organization recently dissolved by Pope Francis due to sexual abuse accusations and cult-like traits — stated that the allegations against Prevost were absolutely false: “There is no documentary evidence or solid testimonies pointing to Prevost.”
In Peru, Prevost clearly sided with the victims in the Sodalitium scandal. [...] [T]hey claim that they found a strong ally in Prevost, who played a decisive role in facilitating their direct access to Pope Francis at the Vatican. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, after receiving firsthand information from the journalists, decided to open a major investigation that concluded in January 2025 with the dissolution of Sodalicio.
El Pais
Apparently, it was the latter.While Prevost reportedly has high-profile advocates among the cardinals, the prospect of a Prevost papacy is also prompting pushback.
And as cardinals tell The Pillar they’re aiming for a pontiff unsullied by the prospect of scandal, it is not clear whether the allegations and reports about Prevost’s leadership will prove a deterrent to the prospect of his election, or whether cardinals will consider them a kind of weaponized smear campaign against a candidate in the mold of Pope Francis.
The Pillar (Catholic media) May 5 (pre conclave)
Since that came out before Prevost was elected Pope, I'm surprised Loomer and the other MAGA detractors haven't already been on it.Moreover, as an American who spent the whole of his episcopal ministry in South America, sources have told The Pillar that Prevost is regarded by some electors as having a now-desired Western approach to management and governance, without the perceived limited ecclesial vision often attributed to American bishops.
[...]
[A]buse advocates are raising concerns about the cardinal’s candidacy, suggesting that Prevost’s handling of abuse cases should disqualify him from office.
Among the cases flagged by advocates are charges that Prevost’s former Diocese of Chiclayo has been accused of mishandling clerical allegations made by three sisters, who say that in 2022, when they reported abuse in the diocese, Prevost failed to open an investigation into the claims.
[...]
[I]n a statement published last September, the three alleged victims claim that there had been no investigation, or at least nothing substantial or serious. If anything was sent to Rome, they allege, it was tailored to be considered insufficient and not merit the opening of a full penal canonical investigation.
[...]
“As proof of our statements, we point to the non-existence of any decree ordering the opening of an investigation, or of any decree issuing precautionary measures.”
“During this period, we were never called by any investigator to make any deposition.”
[...]
As the dispute unfolded, the victims claimed that an accused priest admitted guilt to Prevost directly, compounding the charges that Prevost had mishandled the case.
[...]
[I]n September 2000, Fr. James Ray was permitted to live at St. John Stone Friary, a house of the Chicago province of the Augustinian religious order. The friary is half a block from a parish elementary school.
According to diocesan records, the move required approval by Prevost, who was then an Augustinian provincial superior.
According to diocesan records reviewed by The Pillar, Ray had been restricted in ministry for nine years by 2000, and had been accused multiple times of sexually abusing boys, at least one of them for years. He had admitted to bringing at least one boy to sleep in his rectory bed, but said of one allegation that he “did not recall” having sexually assaulted a child with whom he admitted to having “cuddled.” Ray did admit to diocesan officials that in 1993 he engaged in sexual activity with a man while on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, a supposed Marian apparition site in Croatia.
[...]
When the Augustinians permitted Ray to live at the friary, records indicate they understood at least summarily what accusations the priest faced. Augustinian leaders met with diocesan officials to discuss Ray’s background, and an Augustinian in residence at the house agreed to monitor the priest’s compliance with the restrictions of his ministry set by the archdiocese, including that he not be alone with children.
But administrators at St. Thomas the Apostle School were not notified that a priest accused of serial sexually abusing children was living in proximity to the parish elementary school.
[...]
To date, Prevost has declined comment on the Chicago situation, giving no indication of regret for the decision, or indicating how he might have handled it differently. On the Peruvian charges, the cardinal has pointed to a defense made by the diocese, suggesting that Prevost took the necessary canonical steps to address the allegations raised against him.
[...]
Some cardinals have also expressed their view that in 2025, no prelate who has been a diocesan bishop is exempt from criticism over his handling of abuse cases, and some have raised concern about the prospect that information about Prevost is being weaponized by his perceived ideological enemies.
[...]
Advocates especially note that after Francis gained a reputation for protecting friends and allies from abuse charges, the perception of integrity should be a critical factor in assessing the next pontiff.
Seems right.I expected to see an African pope in my lifetime. I never expected to see an American pope.
Why?
Because the Vatican is dominated by Europeans and they are deeply suspicious of America and American Catholics. To them, we are toddlers with shotguns.
JV Last @ The Bulwark
And, maybe they thought an American had the best chance of influencing Americans, both to regain churchgoers and have some influence on regime politics. And, maybe the Pope's nationality just doesn't matter any more and wasn't in consideration.Maybe they looked at America and realized that it was no longer a colossus bestriding the globe. No longer exceptional. Not just in decline, but deluded about its reality.
Maybe Robert Prevost was elected pope because the Church realized they no longer needed to be concerned about America power.
UPDATE 10:57 am:
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