Hands Off the Crozier: Clericalism, Silence, and the Scandal of Inaction Under Pope Leo XIV
“For judgment shall begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17)
In the weeks since Pope Leo XIV’s assumption of the Petrine office, the faithful have watched with both anticipation and trepidation as the new pontiff’s tone, gestures, and early appointments have been interpreted through conflicting lenses. Traditionalists hoped for a doctrinal restoration. Progressives clung to the inertia of synodality. But amid these speculations, a deeper and far more devastating pattern is emerging—an apparent unwillingness to confront, decisively and transparently, the crisis of sexual abuse within the clergy.
The Mercy That Mutates into Indifference
In July 2025, a storm of reports from Germany and France reignited global outrage over predator priests still in ministry, high-profile cover-ups, and a Vatican curia seemingly unmoved by the cries of victims. Among the most shocking cases is that of Fr. Dominique Spina, convicted in 2005 for raping a teenage boy. Rather than being laicized, he was promoted by Archbishop Guy de Kerimel of Toulouse to serve as diocesan chancellor. When challenged, the archbishop defended his decision as an act of “mercy.”¹
Yet this ‘mercy’ has mutated into mockery. The victim, who had turned to Spina as a spiritual guide, was groomed and abused at a vulnerable age. That Leo XIV has remained publicly silent, even as Catholic media and laity express outrage, signals not pastoral prudence but a fatal detachment—one which threatens to unravel what little trust remains in the hierarchy.
Victims’ Pleas and a Deafening Vatican Silence
In Germany, the victim support organization Eckiger Tisch decried the Vatican’s refusal to grant compensation to Melanie F., a girl raped repeatedly by her foster father, Fr. Hans Ue, and forced into two abortions. They have appealed directly to Pope Leo to allow lay oversight in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, stating that the DDF’s 18 priests are insufficient to handle the global scale of abuse cases.² Thus far, there has been no public response.
The Pope has also ignored calls to open Vatican archives to independent investigators—despite their containing decades of documentation implicating thousands of clergy.³ “Talk is cheap. Show me,” said Chris O’Leary, a survivor who appeared on the BBC.⁴
Predators Shielded by Proximity and Patronage
One of the gravest concerns relates not to past crimes, but to the continued proximity of known abusers to positions of ecclesiastical comfort and power. Fr. Carlo Alberto Capella, convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography, resides within the Vatican diplomatic residence—just meters from where Pope Leo himself lives.⁵
Likewise, Fr. Richard McGrath, once head of Providence Catholic High School, was credibly accused of misconduct involving minors. Yet the Augustinian order—Leo’s own—left his name off its list of accused clerics. Only after sustained media pressure did the order acknowledge the breadth of the scandal.⁶ Such omissions are not administrative oversights. They are acts of concealment.
The Scandal in Peru: A Test the Pope Has Already Failed
Leo XIV’s own record in Peru, as bishop of Chiclayo, provides little reassurance. There, three women reported abuse by clergy as minors. The Vatican closed the case swiftly after a shallow investigation during which the accused were not suspended from public ministry. Fr. Eleuterio Vásquez continued his pastoral work.⁷
To make matters worse, the Pope then appointed another priest, Fr. Julio Ramírez, to counsel the victims—who reportedly told them not to expect harsh Vatican action since there had been “no penetration.”⁸
Clericalism as a Theological Cancer
The underlying disease is not only administrative incompetence but clericalism—what Joseph Ratzinger once called “a perversion of the priesthood” in which a protective caste mentality supplants the Gospel of accountability and holiness.⁹
Leo XIV’s failure to act decisively against predators—some of whom now dwell within his own household—is not merely a pastoral oversight. It is the external manifestation of an interior priority: to shield the institution, preserve the prestige of clerical office, and avoid public scandal, even if it means betraying the victims once more.
The Pope’s silence sends a chilling message: that priestly dignity outweighs the justice owed to the broken. Such silence is not neutral. It is scandalous. As Msgr. Gene Gomulka has argued, Leo’s passivity echoes his promotion of Cardinal McElroy despite a record of abuse cover-ups, and his toleration of figures like Archbishop George Lucas, implicated in cover-ups and lawsuits across multiple dioceses.¹⁰
Reform Must Begin With Justice, Not Optics
True restoration in the Church cannot proceed on the basis of optics, gestures, and slogans. It begins with justice. And justice demands action—public, verifiable, penitential.
The faithful are right to be scandalized. It is not disloyal to demand accountability. As Our Lord declared, “It must needs be that scandals come: but woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh” (Mt 18:7). The Church is not a refuge for wolves in cassocks, but the bride of Christ, whose shepherds must lay down their lives for the sheep—not protect their own.
Pope Leo XIV may draw crowds to Castel Gandolfo. But unless he cleanses the Church of these defiling crimes—beginning with those closest to his person—his papacy will not be remembered for doctrinal precision or liturgical gestures, but for the souls left unprotected while predators prospered under the roof of Peter.
¹ The Pillar, “Pope’s Silence on Predator Priest Promotion Sparks Questions,” July 11, 2025.
² Eckiger Tisch Press Release, July 2025.
³ Ibid.
⁴ BBC World Service, interview with Chris O’Leary, July 2025.
⁵ InfoVaticana, “Capella’s Return to Vatican Life Raises Questions,” July 2025.
⁶ Chicago Sun Times, “Augustinians Omit Names from Abuse List,” July 2025.
⁷ The New York Times, “Peruvian Victims Say Leo Ignored Their Case,” March 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Joseph Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report, 1985.
¹⁰ The Stream, Interview with Msgr. Gene Gomulka, July 2025.
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