A defrocked priest who was accused of sexually abusing at least 13 children has made a bombshell claim against the new pope.
Robert Prevost, who was named the new head of the Vatican earlier this month, has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Church’s sexual abuse scandal in Chicago when he served as the head of the Midwest Province of the Catholic Church’s Augustinian order.
Now, former priest James M Ray also claims Prevost signed off on his move to a Hyde Park monastery near a Catholic elementary school – despite the fact that Ray had already been accused of molesting children.
‘He’s the one who gave me permission to stay there,’ Ray recently told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The priest is included on an Archdiocesan list of accused sexual offenders, which claims he was subject to ‘limited ministry with restrictions’ starting in 1990 following sexual abuse allegations.
Still, he worked for three parishes – and in 2000, the Archdiocese of Chicago stepped in to help him find a place to live where he would not pose a threat to the public.
However, they ultimately let Ray stay for two years at the St. John Stone Friary – which is less than one block from the St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School and across the ally from a child care center.
The school was never notified that Ray – who has never been convicted of any crime and is not included on any government sex offender registries – was moving into the area, and there is no indication that the child care center was notified either.
Ex-priest James M Ray claims Robert Prevost, who became Pope Leo XIV earlier this month, signed off on his move to a Hyde Park monastery near a Catholic elementary school – despite the fact that Ray had already been accused of molesting children
Prevost had previously served as the head of the Midwest Province of the Catholic Church’s Augustinian order
Instead, the Sun-Times reports, archdiocesan officials incorrectly asserted in paperwork that ‘there was no school in the immediate area.’
Speaking of his move to the area, Ray said he needed to find a place to live as his prior residence ‘was going to be torn down.’
He claimed that the archdiocese’s vicar for priests, who reported to the late Cardinal Francis George, ‘put out the word’ to church organizations to see if any had available housing for him.
The Augustinians, Ray claimed, were ‘the only one that responded.’
It was Prevost – now known as Pope Leo XIV – who then gave him the final approval to move into the friary, Ray said.
When asked how he knows, the former priest said, ‘That’s what the paperwork said and I think Jim said,’ referring to Rev. James Thompson, a now-deceased Augustinian who lived at the monastery and served as Ray’s on-site monitor while he lived there.
Ray was supposed to be closely monitored at the friary, which is why Prevost allegedly didn’t notify the heads of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic school, church officials said at the time.
But Michael Airdo, a longtime lawyer for the Augustinians in Chicago, is now apparently trying to distance the pope from Ray’s move.
Ray lived for two years less than a block away from the St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School
He instead put the blame on the late cardinal and Thompson.
‘The role of then-Provincial Prevost was to accept a guest of the house at the remuneration rates noted,’ Airdo claimed, noting that Thompson ‘had exclusive control over the acceptance of any new residents.’
Ray then remained at the monastery for two years until he was relocated under new rules passed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to keep priests accused of preying on minors physically far away from children.
He was also removed from public ministry that year, in the aftermath of an explosive Boston Globe series on the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal.
Ten years later, in 2012, Ray was defrocked by the Catholic Church.
‘I felt abandoned by the Church, but never felt abandoned by God,’ he recounted.
‘My faith is still strong. I live out my life each day the best I can,’ Ray said, claiming that whenever someone brings up his sexual assault allegations ‘there’s a pain in my chest.’
Michael Airdo, a longtime lawyer for the Augustinians in Chicago, has instead put the blame on former Cardinal Francis George (pictured)
Two years after Ray was defrocked, George publicly released the internal files of numerous accused priests in the Chicago area.
It showed that Ray’s victims ranged in age from 10 to 18.
‘Additionally, as indicated below, there appears to have been an additional three named males that Jim Ray may have masturbated,’ the documents say.
‘The common theme within these three formal allegations of sexual abuse was that Jim Ray became close to their families… Then Jim Ray physically touched them inappropriately by having them sit on his lap, which over time led to him giving them back rubs that eventually went lower.
‘Each of the victims reported that while sitting on his lap or during the back rubs they “felt his (Jim Ray’s) erect penis.” The back rubs became mutual and also led to mutual masturbation.’
Church records obtained by the Sun-Times also show Ray admitted to church officials to another incident during a 1993 visit to Medjugorje – a town in the Balkan region of Europe where the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared.
While at the airport, the records say Ray ‘met a paraplegic who asked him (Jim Ray) to masturbate him, which he (Jim Ray) admittedly did.’
In total, a 2023 Illinois Attorney General says Ray molested at least 13 children.
Speaking to the Sun-Times, Ray tried to downplay the allegations, saying he was just giving a young man a back massage.
But when confronted with the seriousness of the allegations against him, he changed his tune.
‘I can’t change the past. I don’t necessarily want to defend myself either. But on a scale of 1 to 10, I was wrong, but it was a 1 or maybe a half even,’ Ray said.
‘It wasn’t a child. Was a young adult, over 20. I was wrong, and I got to live with that.’
This is not the first time Pope Leo XIV has been accused of looking the other way at the Church’s child sex abuse scandal
But this is not the first time Pope Leo XIV has been accused of looking the other way at the Church’s child sex abuse scandal.
He has previously been criticized for not having opened a formal investigation into alleged sexual abuse carried out by two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which he led from 2014 to 2023.
The alleged victims have claimed that, under Prevost’s watch, in 2022 the Diocese downplayed details and documentation of their allegations that it sent to the Vatican – intentionally preventing the Church from taking action against the accused priests.
The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet that investigates the church, reported that Prevost ultimately met with the accusers in April 2022 and encouraged them to take their case to the civil authorities while the church investigated.
That probe reportedly ‘was shelved for lack of evidence and because the statute of limitations had expired’.
With that in mind, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said it worked with other organizations to make the 135 eligible cardinals who selected Prevost well aware of his alleged inaction.
‘This person will be scrutinized from left to right,’ said Lopez de Casas, the group’s national vice president who hopes Prevost’s election will shine a brighter light on abuse within the Church.
‘That’s helpful for victims everywhere because we have this pope who will be under the public eye in terms of things he was involved with in the past,’ he said.
For his part, Prevost said in a 2023 interview with Vatican Media that ‘silence is not the solution’ when it comes to the sexual abuse scandal.
‘We must be transparent and honest, because otherwise their wounds will never heal,’ the future pope said at the time. ‘There is a great responsibility in this, for all of us.’
Now, Ray says Prevost’s ordination carries ‘very positive vibes’ overall.
