Pope Francis Accused of Opposing Reforms on Clergy Sexual Abuse

Pope Francis has been accused by some individuals of opposing reforms regarding sexual abuse by clergy.

Pope Francis opposed reforms that seriously address the problem of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable people by clergy, leading to accusations against him such as “turning a blind eye to priests who assault nuns.”

In past decades, scandals have involved the Catholic Church, and Pope Francis stated during a meeting in February 2019 that he would spare no effort in bringing pedophile priests and bishops who covered up their crimes to justice.

One week before the aforementioned summit, Pope Francis publicly admitted that priests had also sexually abused nuns and forced them to have abortions. Some participants at the summit committed to taking further action to combat this problem. Three months after this summit, the Vatican established procedures for each bishop to report sexual harassment allegations, and Pope Francis revoked the “episcopal secrecy” rule to improve transparency regarding sexual abuse.

Now, five years after the summit and Pope Francis’s promises along with other participants, activists supporting victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have stated that Pope Francis has not kept his promises and his rules have had little impact.

On Monday, February 26 of this year, Ann Bartholet Doyel, one of the founders of Bishop Accountability, which has been following Catholic clergy sexual abuse cases since 2019, referred to 10 cases of bishops and clergy members accused of sexual abuse who have also been supported by Pope Francis. She referenced the case of Marco Rupnik, who was dismissed from the church in 2020 for allegations of sexual and psychological assault against nuns over three decades prior, but Marco Rupnik was accepted again as bishop of his birthplace “Slovenia” three years later in 2023.

The Vatican has not yet responded to the accusations made against Pope Francis.