Two Leading Papal Contenders Face Sexual Abuse Cover-Up Allegations

Two of the most prominent figures considered potential successors to Pope Francis are facing serious allegations over their handling of clerical child sexual abuse cases. Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle have come under fire from Bishop Accountability, a U.S.-based watchdog group that monitors the Catholic Church’s response to abuse.

In a press conference held just outside the Vatican on Friday, the group’s co-director Anne Barrett Doyle accused both men of failing to ensure transparency and justice in handling abuse claims. Doyle said Cardinal Parolin, currently the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has repeatedly withheld documents requested by civil authorities investigating abuse cases around the world. She claimed his office has played a central role in blocking efforts to obtain key information since 2013, including during high-profile inquiries in Australia, the UK, Chile, and Poland.

“If Cardinal Parolin becomes pope, we will have a consummate secret-keeper running the Catholic Church,” said Doyle. “Any hope of transparency around sex abuse will be dashed completely.”

One example cited by Doyle was Australia’s royal commission, which found that at least 4,400 children had been abused by more than 1,100 clerics. Despite repeated requests, she said, the Vatican only provided documentation for two priests. In the UK, she alleged that Parolin’s office refused to cooperate with a national inquiry into abuse within the English Benedictine Congregation, citing lack of jurisdiction.

Cardinal Tagle, who previously served as Archbishop of Manila, was also criticized. Doyle accused him of failing to modernize the Church’s response to abuse in the Philippines, noting that neither the Manila archdiocese nor the national bishops’ conference had published guidelines for handling abuse cases. “If Cardinal Tagle cannot even get his brother bishops from his home country to publish guidelines, what on earth can we expect for him to achieve as pope of a global church?” she asked.

In response, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a rare statement on Saturday evening defending Tagle. The statement emphasized that responsibility for handling abuse allegations lies with diocesan bishops or religious superiors, not with Tagle, who no longer oversees any diocese since taking on a full-time post in the Roman Curia.