New Zealand survivors of Catholic Church clergy child sexual abuse express condolences for death of Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) who led the worldwide Catholic Church from 2013 until today.

Bergoglio was a significant person on the world stage. However, sadly his handling of sexual abuse cases, while considerably better than his predecessors, was not impressive according to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa New Zealand.

SNAP Aotearoa reports:

• According to Argentine victims, Pope Francis, when Metropolitan Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, was silent on clerical child sexual abuse in the Argentine. He never offered apologies or redress to victims.

• In 2010, Bergoglio commissioned a report to exonerate Julio Grassi, a prominent Argentine priest convicted of child sexual abuse. Under Bergoglio, a direct attempt was made by the Argentine Catholic Church to influence the judiciary’s views ahead of Grassi's appeal hearing.

• In 2013, Pope Francis refused to respond to allegations that he rehabilitated ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick from sanctions imposed by his predecessor Joseph Ratzinger.

• In 2015, Francis drew significant criticism for supporting Chilean bishop Juan Barros accused of covering up Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Chile, including crimes against minors. before responding more appropriately.

• In 2019, despite promises of “Zero Tolerance,” Pope Francis kept disgraced New Zealand Catholic Bishop Charles Drennan in clerical and episcopal statuses after Drennan resigned the Palmerston North Diocese for sexual misconduct. To this day Drennan remains a bishop. Appeals to Pope Francis for Drennan’s laicisation have been ignored.

• Also in 2019, while Pope Francis was applauded for lifting the Vatican’s confidentiality law (Pontifical Secret) around clergy sexual abuse cases, he never held his New Zealand bishops to account for using confidentiality clauses in their now discredited national complaints process Te Houhanga Rongo/A Path To Healing.

• In November 2022, Pope Francis failed to divest French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of his status and privileges as a cardinal after Ricard admitted to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s.

• In 2022 and 2023, Francis never responded to the cries of victims and survivors of abuse in his church in New Zealand who reached out to him directly several times imploring him to intervene to stop the secondary abuses being inflicted upon them by New Zealand's Catholic bishops and congregational leaders. However, the survivors’ letters were not acknowledged and their suffering was ignored.

• In 2023, Pope Francis' promises of accountability were again undermined after Slovenian priest Marko Rupnik was accused of multiple cases of sexual abuse.

• In 2024, After New Zealand’s Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended religious leaders of institutions where abuse occurred admit the wrongdoing and apologise, no admission of wrongdoing or apology was forthcoming from Pope Francis.

Overall, Pope Francis’ actions in dealing with clerical and religious abuse in his church conflicted with his words. On other issues, he was generally a force for good in the world. “However, we are no longer living in times where we can just eulogise significant world leaders who failed society on such an important issue as justice for child victims of sexual assault,” said SNAP Aotearoa spokesperson Dr Christopher Longhurst.

SNAP Aotearoa hopes the next pope will confront the issue of abuse in the Catholic Church more honestly, prioritise the needs of victims and survivors, and hold the New Zealand Catholic bishops and congregational leaders to account.

© Scoop Media