Protest march in Rome: What sexual abuse survivors want from papal conclave, next pope

The incidents of past sexual abuse cases will be one of the many battles the next pope has to fight, as victims urge the next leadership to engage in those discussions ahead of the papal conclave.

Pope Francis’s death has caused a gaping hole in the handling of sexual harassment cases that were once dealt with by him to some extent. Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of cardinals across the world have gathered in Rome ahead of the papal conclave slated for tomorrow.

Ending Clergy Abuse, an advocacy group for survivors from 20 countries, said, “I think it’s very important to remind them that we will not go away.”

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Last week, Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesperson, revealed that during pre-conclave meetings earlier in the week, cardinals addressed the issue of sexual abuse within the Church. They regarded it as a “wound to be kept open” to ensure the problem remains acknowledged and to identify tangible ways for healing.

How has Pope Francis dealt with sex abuse crisis?

When Pope Francis took over the Vatican’s leadership in 2013, the church was marred by an unsettled sex abuse crisis that played a role in destroying its reputation and forced many believers to question the church.

Francis is recognised for taking measures that were notably more decisive than those of his two predecessors, who faced the initial wave of outrage when the clergy abuse scandal erupted. However, Francis also faltered at times, and clerical abuse continues to be a deeply damaging issue that his successor will have to confront.

In 2019, Francis took one of the first steps to respond to the crisis by ordering cardinals from across the world to make the protection of children a global priority. The most significant step was when he personally met some of the survivors.

He also introduced, and later expanded, the Church’s most extensive law to address the crisis, holding clerics—ranging from seminarians to cardinals—accountable for sexually abusing children, minors, or vulnerable adults, as well as for covering up such abuse.

‘Sexual abuse still a Western problem’

Marie Collins, a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, told the New York Times, “In many countries in the non-Western world, abuse is still looked on as the Western problem.”

“There are very strong forces in the church, not just in the Vatican, that are still of the traditional view that can’t confront this issue because it destroys the reputation of the church. It’s clericalism at its worst," she added.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, argues that the cardinals should also consider how each papal candidate has responded to abuse allegations. Last month, the organization launched Conclave Watch, an initiative focused on examining how certain cardinals have handled abuse cases.