After the historic election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as history’s first American pope, old allegations of coverup and mishandling of abuse cases have bubbled up, but which contain serious doubts in terms of their credibility.

The cases in question, published by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), involve a group of women in Chiclayo who say they were sexually abused by two priests and who have said that Prevost mishandled the investigation into their claims, and the transfer of an accused priest to an Augustinian community house near a school.

Chiclayo allegations

In the case of the Chiclayo victims, the allegations in question were crafted in part by a former priest and canon lawyer who briefly represented the women, but who last December was defrocked for sexual abuse and barred from practicing canon law, and who had a historic axe to grind with Prevost.

Ricardo Coronado, the former priest in question, also has close ties to a Peruvian group, the Sodalitium Christiane Vitae, that Pope Francis formally suppressed prior to his death, after having expelled a prominent archbishop belonging to the society along with 14 other members last fall.

The women claim to have experienced sexually inappropriate conduct on the part of two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru prior to Prevost’s arrival, but they did not make a formal complaint to church authorities until 2022, during his tenure.

Among other things, these women allege that after coming forward, Prevost failed to open a preliminary investigation and did not inform civil authorities about their complaints, and they also claimed they were not offered counseling services. They later filed a civil complaint.

The Diocese of Chiclayo has denied these accusations, issuing a 10-point statement Sept. 10, 2023, saying Prevost had launched an inquiry, prohibited the priest from ministry, and had sent the results of the investigation to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in Rome.

The DDF and civil authorities ultimately opted to close the case in 2023, with civil authorities citing a statute of limitations and the DDF a lack of evidence, but it was later reopened by the apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, who took over leadership when Prevost left, when one of the victims went public with her complaint. The case is still pending in the DDF.

Last year a Vatican official told Crux on background that, “the matter was examined, and Prevost was not found to have covered up. He acted in accordance with the regulations in force at the time.”

Other sources in Peru familiar with the case said the women were, in fact, offered counseling when they were referred to the diocesan listening center after lodging their complaint, and one of them took advantage of the counseling services.

The source also said Prevost had mentioned the possibility of a civil complaint to the women, but had warned that it likely would not be carried forward due to the statue of limitations, as was later the case.

The assertions against Prevost in the Chiclayo case were emerged only after Coronado stepped on as the women’s canon lawyer. A former Augustinian, he represented the women from May until August 2024, when he was barred by the Peruvian bishops from practicing canon law due to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Coronado publicized his defrocking himself on his Facebook page just before Christmas 2024, stating that he had been forcibly expelled from the priesthood. Though he didn’t explain why, he was accused last year of an unspecified “crime against the sixth commandment” by his Diocese of Cajamarca in Peru.

In Catholic legal jargon, a “crime against the sixth commandment” implies some form of sexual misconduct.

Coronado said he was also barred in the same decree from acting as a lawyer, asserting that the aim was to “shield some very eminent prelates.” In a subsequent Facebook post, Coronado said, “please, do not consider the dismissal promoted by a cardinal who covered up is a matter of disgrace. It is a distinction. I feel very honored.”

The references were taken by most observers as alluding to Prevost, with whom Coronado is said to have political and personal differences dating back to Coronado’s own time in the Augustinians.

Various sources familiar with both men told Crux last year on background that Coronado harbored resentment against Prevost in the past, in part over the growth of liberation theology in Peru and Coronado’s belief that the Augustinian order had become too progressive, accusing Prevost of being part of a progressive camp that needed to be reformed.

Three individuals with firsthand knowledge of Coronado dating back to the early 1990s, when he led the Augustinian formation house in Lurín, Peru, told Crux about his personal resentment of Prevost and his historic ties to the SCV, as well as what they said was rampant sexual misconduct on the part of Coronado.

Each of the men spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from Coronado.

“He [Coronado] despised Prevost very, very strongly, because he said that Prevost embodied progressivism in the Church, and this is modernism and such. There was always a lot of attention against Prevost, [Coronado] openly despised him,” one of the men said.

Two of the individuals who were in formation under Coronado recounted an extremely competitive attitude with regard to the formation house in Trujillo, which at the time was led by Prevost.

Coronado, the men said, saw Prevost and the Trujillo house as overly progressive, calling the seminarians there “homosexuals.”

These two individuals described a formation house environment under Coronado as being dominated by strict rules, favoritism, and constant sexual innuendo, with Coronado doling out humiliating punishments and normalizing sexual connotations such as nudity and dirty jokes. They alleged a pattern of sexually inappropriate and aggressive behavior by Coronado, directed towards adult seminarians under his supervision.

A separate individual who was not in the formation house with Coronado, but who visited often and observed the same behaviors, said he had contact with Coronado some 20 years later, and that Coronado’s conduct had not changed.

One individual who was in formation under Coronado also underscored his links with the now-suppressed SCV, saying he was personal friends of many members, and that while he led the Lurín formation house, for at least a year he went monthly to serve as a confessor at the SCV formation house in San Bartolo, where various alleged physical abuses occurred, reportedly with the approval of the SCV’s founder, Luis Fernando Figari.

Coronado wanted to turn the Lurín house into “another San Bartolo,” he said.

The other individual who was in formation with Coronado voiced his belief that Coronado’s decision to accuse Prevost publicly of coverup is likely due to the presumption that Prevost had acted against a prominent SCV archbishop, who was ousted from leadership as part of the Vatican’s investigation of the group, which was conducted by a Special Mission assigned by the pope, and composed of two officials of the DDF.

No mention had been made of Prevost until Coronado stepped in as the women’s lawyer, he said, saying, “The victims are not accusing Prevost, they are asking for help. The way of smearing, dirtying Prevost,” is something that came from Coronado, he said.

Coronado has filed multiple lawsuits against individuals he has accused of defamation, including one for remarks made during a group sharing session as part of an internal healing process. He has also sued Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs.

After leaving the Augustinians in 2001, following complaints to his superiors about his conduct, Coronado received permission from Bishop Michael Sheridan in Colorado Springs to come work as a canonist, serving there as judicial vicar for nearly 20 years.

He left this post in 2022, apparently over differences with Golka, but with the understanding that he was still a priest in good standing and could thus celebrate the sacraments while visiting.

However, last year Coronado filed a lawsuit against Golka and his former vicar general, Monsignor Robert Jaeger, for allegedly breaking a memorandum of understanding in which the parties had agreed not to go public, after Jaeger issued a June 2023 statement saying he had been made aware of “certain allegations” regarding Coronado’s conduct, and that Coronado was no longer a priest in good standing.

That lawsuit was subsequently dismissed by the District Court of El Paso County. Coronado has appealed that decision.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Colorado Springs declined a Crux request for comment when Coronado was defrocked, citing ongoing litigation.

Coronado declined a Crux interview request, however, his canonical lawyer, Lucia Musso, said they were both “surprised by the decision to remove him from the clerical state because there was no evidence of a crime.”

“The decision signed by the Holy Father cannot be modified and my client does not consider it appropriate to make any kind of statement,” Musso said, saying Coronado is preparing a book that will offer a “detailed account of the events in which he was involved, and until it is published there will be no further statements.”

Some observers believe that given Coronado’s apparent historic distain for Prevost and his close ties to the SCV, which Pope Francis suppressed earlier this year and while Prevost would have been familiar with given his many years in Peru, were possible motives for fabricating the allegations.

Chicago case

One involves claims of endangerment of children over the placing of a priest accused of abuse and removed from ministry by the Archdiocese of Chiclayo, at a friary located near a school, during the time when Prevost was the provincial superior.

Prevost served as Prior General of the Augustinian order from 2001-2013, before being appointed to Chicago in 2014. He was named prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops by Pope Francis in January 2023.

An Augustinian from Chicago told Crux on background earlier this year that the archdiocese had asked the order for permission for Father James Ray to be placed in that house after being removed from ministry because its superior was a licensed counselor who served as supervisor of a safety plan imposed on Ray, and therefore Ray would be under a more watchful eye.

The Augustinian said the location of a school two blocks away was not considered a risk at the time, given that a safety plan was in place, and the criteria of not placing accused priests near schools was a product of the 2002 Dallas Charter, which had not yet been issued when the decision on Ray was made.

This decision, they said, was an agreement between the archdiocese and the superior of the friary, but which Prevost had to formally sign off on, since it was an Augustinian community house.

In a statement to Crux with supporting documentation, Michael Airdo, lawyer for the Augustinian province of the Midwest, said that the decision to place Ray in St. John Stone Friary from 2000 until 2002 “was an accommodation to the late Cardinal Francis George” as archbishop of Chicago.

When Ray moved into the friary, “he was subject to restrictions stemming from his previous allegations of abuse,” and while staying at the friary, he was overseen by its prior, who ensured that Ray complied with the restrictions on his ministry.

The prior of the friary, Father James Thompson, was a professional counselor, Airdo said, who had served as Coordinator of Continuing Care at Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada, a mental health treatment center that assists the church in treating ministers and fostering safe environments.

Thompson “was especially qualified to supervise individuals like Ray who were subject to restrictions. There have been no allegations that Ray committed any acts of abuse while residing at St. John Stone Friary,” Airdo said.

According to Ray’s personnel file, published by the Archdiocese of Chicago, the approval for his residence at the friary was granted by the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the initial placement of Ray there was done before the 2002 Dallas Charter of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which stipulates that proximity to a school is a prohibition for placement of accused clergy.

However, Airdo said an archdiocesan Professional Fitness Review Administrator determined that there was “no school in the vicinity,” and therefore recommended Ray’s placement, which Cardinal George subsequently approved as archbishop.

Airdo also provided a list of Prevost’s efforts in child protection during his time leading the Augustinians, noting that as provincial prior from 1999-2001, “in cases where established accusations against an Augustinian were brought to him, he applied precautionary measures to remove the accused friar from active ministry, placing him in a setting where there would be no risk to minors.”

After his election as prior general in 2001, then-Father Prevost helped the Augustinian order put into place a requirement that a set of protocols be established for every circumscription of the order to guide members in child protection and responding to cases, “years before it became the general law of the Church.”

Prevost, Airdo said, as prior general also organized a course for all major superiors of the Augustinians during the Intermediate General Chapter of 2010 addressing the issue of safeguarding and best practices for responding to victims.

In 2012, Prevost participated in the inauguration of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and he also participated in the first safeguarding course offered to the superiors general of religious orders and congregations.

Despite it being the responsibility of major and provincial superiors, Prevost as prior general, Airdo said, “became directly involved in several cases…when victims reached out to the Prior General for whatever reason.”

“He has taken steps to protect minors and vulnerable adults in numerous countries, always seeking to protect the innocent and offer healing to victims, while removing offenders from ministry,” Airdo said.

As bishop of Chiclayo, an appointment he received in 2014, Prevost took an active role in both the diocesan and national bishops’ conference’s child protection policies, helping draft protocols “that had never been completed or published in Peru.”

Prevost, Airdo said, formed the first national commission within the bishops’ conference for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults and served as its first coordinator, organizing training courses for church personnel and personally accompanying victims.

Source: Crux