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As the world dives into the background of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, it is being revealed that he has a disturbing background of allegedly covering up for priests accused of sexually abusing children despite formerly being in charge of investigating such cases.<\/strong><\/p>\n Pope Leo is the first American-born pontiff in the history of the Vatican, but sadly his legacy is beginning with a shroud of darkness due to his controversial connections to colleagues charged with molesting kids.<\/p>\n During his time as provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago from 1999 to 2001, Prevost allowed a known accused pedophile named Father James Ray to live at St. John Stone Friary, which was just around the corner from a Catholic elementary school.<\/p>\n Diocesan records reviewed by\u00a0Catholic news outlet\u00a0The Pillar<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>showed\u00a0Ray was restricted in ministry in 1991 and \u201chad been accused multiple times of sexually abusing boys, at least one of them for years.\u201d<\/p>\n The outlet wrote, \u201cHe had admitted to bringing at least one boy to sleep in his rectory bed, but said of one allegation that he \u2018did not recall\u2019 having sexually assaulted a child with whom he admitted to having \u2018cuddled.\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n A Catholic school principal had previously warned the archdiocese about Ray sometimes taking children out of class, and being \u201ctouchytender\u201d with some students,\u00a0the Pillar<\/em>\u00a0added.<\/p>\n A website dedicated to bishop accountability also noted Ray \u201cwas living with eight other accused priests at Stritch Retreat House in Mundelein\u201d in 2008 and that \u201ca 2020 lawsuit alleged abuse and sexual torture 1983-1987 of a boy while assigned to St. Peter Damian.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Illinois Attorney General filed a report<\/a>\u00a0detailing 13 allegations of abuse by Ray dating from 1974 to 1991.<\/p>\n In another case of Prevost allegedly turning a blind eye to accusations of child abuse within the church, the new Pope reportedly failed to open an investigation into two priests at the the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which he led from 2014 until 2023, when three sisters went public saying they were molested by the men.<\/p>\n The three alleged victims said the abuse took place when they were underage in 2007 by Fr. Eleuterio V\u00e1squez Gonz\u00e1les and Fr. Ricardo Yesquen.<\/p>\n One girl claimed the priests kissed her on the mouth and fondled her at the age of nine.<\/p>\n After they became unsatisfied with the results of a canonical\u00a0investigation, the girls filed a civil case with prosecutors eventually dropping the issue due to an expired statute of limitations.<\/p>\n One of the victims, Ana Mar\u00eda Quispe D\u00edaz, later went public by posting videos to social media discussing her abuse and encouraged more victims coming forward.<\/p>\n She claimed seven other alleged victims contacted her and \u201cthat some of them had suffered abuse as far back as 1997.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pillar<\/a><\/em>\u00a0reported \u201cthe diocese \u2014 now\u00a0under the authority<\/a>\u00a0of apostolic administrator Bishop Guillermo Antonio Cornejo Monz\u00f3n, following Prevost\u2019s departure \u2013 decided to reopen the case\u201d and that \u201cV\u00e1squez admitted the abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite these scandals about Prevost ignoring sexual abuse allegations, Pope Francis selected him as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023 where Prevost took the role of overseeing bishop appointments worldwide and enforcing\u00a0Vos estis lux mundi<\/em>\u00a0(2019), Pope Francis\u2019 decree on addressing episcopal negligence in abuse cases.<\/p>\n Now, the controversial cardinal has reached the highest position in the Catholic Church after being named Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.<\/p>\n