Survivors Deliver Vos Estis Lux Mundi Complaints Against Six Cardinals To Vatican Secretary Of State Parolin

At a press conference in Rome last Tuesday, March 25, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in partnership with Nate's Mission, delivered formal complaints against six cardinals to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State to the Holy See.

The complaints, lodged under Pope Francis’s 2023 decree Vos estis lux mundi charged each cardinal with covering up and mismanaging clergy sexual assault and child abuse cases.

The six cardinals are:

• Cardinal Péter Erdő
• Cardinal Kevin Farrell
• Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández
• Cardinal Mario Grech
• Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost
• Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

The delivery of the complaints marks the first time multiple high-ranking cardinals have been targeted under Vos estis lux mundi by coordinated survivor-led action.

At Tuesday’s press conference, survivors contended that Pope Francis’s Vos estis lux mundi law was insufficient to handle the misconduct of the most powerful members of the Catholic hierarchy, because the complaints were against cardinals whose dicasteries handle those complaints.

"Vos estis lux mundi allows bishops who have covered up abuse to investigate bishops who have covered up abuse — it lacks enforcement, transparency, and consequences for the powerful,” said Peter Isely, SNAP Chair for Global Affairs. “If the next pope is serious about ending clergy abuse, we must ensure he hasn’t covered it up, and that he endorses a binding and universal zero tolerance law.”

At the conference, Shaun Dougherty, US based SNAP President, said "survivors have done the work that church leaders refuse to do. We’ve compiled the evidence, followed the Vatican’s procedures, and named the names. If Pope Francis is serious about his zero tolerance'' approach, he would appoint a truly independent investigator and open the abuse archives to that person - as he said he would in 2019.”

During the conference, the survivor group also announced SNAP’s new Conclave Watch initiative, a global effort vetting potential papal candidates based on their handling of clergy sexual abuse and their support for the universal, legally binding zero tolerance law endorsed by SNAP.

“While sympathy for Pope Francis in his declining health is understandable, we cannot ignore the tragic reality: the cardinals he has empowered include men who have covered up abuse,” Isely said. “Now some of these same men are being considered as candidates for the next pope.”

Survivors also made a broader appeal to Pope Francis, against his issuing what they described as a “misleading” papal exhortation on children that fails to mandate binding protections against their abuse under canon law.

The letter, drafted by global survivors and delivered by Juan Carlos Cruz — a survivor, papal advisor, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — urged Pope Francis to use his remaining time to implement a true zero-tolerance law that includes independent oversight of bishops.

SNAP and Nate's Mission are calling on Catholics and whistleblowers worldwide to share evidence of misconduct by church officials. The group plans to soon launch a webpage sharing information about the cardinal electors’ abuse coverup.

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