On the morning that Pope Francis鈥檚 passing was announced to the world, Irene Desch锚nes received a text message from a fellow survivor of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
鈥淪he said, 鈥楾he pope died. Take care of yourself,鈥欌 Desch锚nes, the president of , an advocacy group for survivors of church abuse, recounted in a telephone interview from her home near London, Ont.
鈥淭his is probably a trigger for a lot of survivors, but there are triggers every day.鈥
As cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to elect the church鈥檚 267th supreme leader, there has been talk of favourites and underdogs; of liberals and conservatives; of doctrinal discussions about homosexuality and making more space for women; and about whether to embrace or resist modernity.
But there has been little public debate about the church鈥檚 biggest sin 鈥 one for which many feel it has not sufficiently atoned.
Sexual misconduct by Catholic priests has left a trail of broken souls and breached trust around the globe. Compounding the suffering of victims has been the church鈥檚 history of covering up abuse allegations, conducting opaque investigations into the actions of its own priests and putting the good of the institution ahead of the needs of individual victims.
Sarah Pearson in March, delivering formal complaints to the Vatican against six Catholic cardinals accused of covering up or mismanaging cases of sexual abuse.听
Shaun DoughertyAdvocates for sexual-abuse survivors see the conclave as both a risk and a window of opportunity to push for change within the church.
When Francis died on April 22, Sarah Pearson quickly booked a flight from her home in Milwaukee to Rome.
A member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), she has been patrolling the Vatican streets, on the lookout for red-hatted cardinals and urging them to push for the adoption of a that would immediately remove both abusive clergy and those who have covered up the abuse.
Several cardinals identified as leading contenders to take over from Pope Francis were the subjects of formal complaints to the Vatican in March, alleging that they should be probed for 鈥渃overing up and mismanaging cases of abuse.鈥
Among them are Hungary鈥檚 Cardinal Peter Erdo, Malta鈥檚 Cardinal Mario Grech, U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost and Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines. SNAP also launched a website, , which profiles of 28 cardinals who have been accused of abuse or of mishandling abuse investigations.
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The group also before his death, asking that he institute stricter laws to tackle sexual abuse, all while highlighting his own troubled history of denying allegations, protecting problem priests and ignoring the pleas of victims.听
鈥淚n our mind, we believe that Pope Francis never had the credibility to be able to call for zero tolerance because his own history was rife with coverup of abuse in Buenos Aires,鈥 Pearson said in a telephone interview. 鈥淎nd we don鈥檛 want to see history repeated.鈥
In 2013, when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio emerged on the papal balcony in St. Peter鈥檚 Square, presented to the world as Francis, people around the world were charmed by his humble approach to the church鈥檚 highest post, his rejection of papal pomp and his advocacy for the destitute.
The church鈥檚 sexual-abuse victims in Argentina had a different reaction.听
鈥淚 can only imagine when it would feel like to know that the person who was involved in covering up my case or had defended, or kept administering to, the person who abused me is now the head of the monarchy that is the Catholic Church,鈥 Pearson said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want another person after this conclave is over to feel that way.鈥
Picking a pope is no ordinary election, where candidates can be questioned and challenged for their positions on pressing issues. The faithful believe that the cardinals are guided in their choice by God and that the conclave, as well as the series of meetings leading up to the locking of the Sistine Chapel, is a time to seek out and listen for that divine intervention.
The Vatican Press Office did say that the pre-conclave discussions did touch on 鈥渟exual abuse and financial scandals鈥 that have embroiled the church.
A priest holds a page from an Irish newspaper displaying photos of cardinals who could become the next Pope.
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesVatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni 鈥渞eported that these issues were faced as a 鈥榳ound鈥 to be kept 鈥榦pen,鈥 so that awareness of the problem remains alive and concrete paths for its healing can be identified,鈥 the press office said in a .听
This is not quite the due diligence one might expect ahead of an election to such a powerful position as head of the world鈥檚 1.4 billion Catholics.
More troubling is that the vast majority of the voting-age cardinals are so new and unknown to one another that they have been wearing name tags to the Vatican meetings.
鈥淗ow would they know if they鈥檙e voting for somebody who has or has not had allegations made against them?鈥 asked Desch锚nes.
That risk is not just theoretical.
In the 2013 conclave, Quebec鈥檚 , then head of the Vatican body that selects the church鈥檚 bishops, was said to be among the front-runners to replace the retiring Pope Benedict XVI.
Less than a decade later, he was named in a civil lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec, accused of unwanted touching when he was archbishop.
Ouellet denied the accusations and against his accuser. In 2022, that, following a preliminary investigation, 鈥淧ope Francis declares that there are insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet.鈥
A few months later, and after reports emerged of a second complaint for sexual misconduct targeting Ouellet, the Canadian cardinal stepped down from his Vatican post and, at the age of 80, is now too old to vote in the conclave.
鈥淚f there is somebody in the top job and they鈥檙e involved in the sexual abuse scandal in some way or another, then survivors have a right to be very nervous about that,鈥 Desch锚nes said. 鈥淎lready, when we come forward and go speak to the bishop, there鈥檚 a lot of denial and obfuscation. They treat us like the enemy 鈥 like we鈥檙e a perpetrator.鈥
Desch锚nes settled a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of London after she was abused starting in 1971 at the age of 10, by Charles Sylvestre, a now-deceased Catholic priest in Chatham, Ont. The initial settlement said the church had no previous complaints about Sylvestre鈥檚 behaviour prior to 1971, leading Desch锚nes to believe hers was an isolated case.
Later, a 1962 police report emerged detailing Sylvestre鈥檚 abuse of three girls, causing Desch锚nes to reopen her civil claim. Now, she said, more than 100 people have filed civil suits seeking compensation for abuse. Desch锚nes鈥 lawsuit was only settled after it was appealed up to the Supreme Court of Canada.听
The church always said, 鈥淥h, we didn鈥檛 know,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hen there鈥檚 that many children who were abused, somebody knew, certainly the church knew ... They鈥檙e just shrouded in secrecy.鈥
Pearson said that SNAP is receiving information about cases of sexual abuse and coverups from the farthest flung corners of the Catholic Church, including Fiji, Tonga, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand and Latin America.
鈥淲e hear from survivors all the time, but we鈥檝e been hearing from priests who say, 鈥業 complained about this person for their abuse but my bishop or my cardinal didn鈥檛 do anything about it,鈥 or, 鈥業 tried writing to the Vatican and they didn鈥檛 do anything about it.鈥欌
There are some small signs of change within the church, Pearson said, pointing to the acknowledgment that cardinals had discussed the sexual abuse crisis in their pre-conclave meetings 鈥 even if the details of those discussions remain under wraps.
But Desch锚nes, who waged a 30-year war to be compensated for the abuse that has left a deep and lasting impact on her life, is more circumspect.
She lost her faith in the church a long, long time ago. But she holds on to hope.
鈥淭he power that the Pope has 鈥 he鈥檚 probably the most powerful person in the world, and he has the power to enact change and to keep children and vulnerable adults safe.鈥
