The double investigation into the accusations against Prevost reveals that the victims were satisfied with his actions and began to accuse him after being manipulated by their lawyer, a former priest abuser who hates Leo XIV.

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The cover-up accusations against the future Leo XIV were directed at him not by the victims, but by their lawyer: a former priest abuser who harbors a longstanding grudge against the Pope.

And there’s more: one of the victims, Ana María Quispe Díaz, stated yesterday that she initially had no complaint against Prevost and was satisfied with the meeting she had with him. Then everything changed when the lawyer arrived.

These are the two most explosive elements that emerged thanks to the investigations by “Crux” and the “National Catholic Reporter”.

 

What are the accusations against Pope Prevost

But let’s go slowly and understand the context.

On UCCR we have already discussed the accusations directed at then-bishop Robert Prevost when he led the diocese of Chiclayo (Peru) of not having properly handled the sexual abuse complaints of three sisters by two priests.

The victims claimed that the future Pope Leo XIV did not initiate a full canonical investigation and that the documentation sent to Rome was deliberately incomplete to hinder action.

The diocese of Chiclayo promptly rejected these accusations in December 2023, stating that Prevost personally met the victims, launched a canonical investigation and sent the complete results to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

This version has also been confirmed by major investigative journalists on abuses in Latin America, who also praised Prevost’s swiftness and courage in intervening, as well as his role in the dissolution of the Peruvian institute “Sodalitium Christianae Vitae” (SCV) due to abuses within it.

The accusations resurfaced because some outlets brought them up during the March conclave in an attempt to hobble Leo’s election, considered a progressive-leaning candidate.

In Italy Riccardo Cascioli, director of “La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana”, even urged the cardinals not to elect Prevost because he was «involved in sexual abuses».

Not yet satisfied, in recent days Cascioli himself attacked Leo XIV again, supporting the victims’ version about the lack of a diocesan inquiry: «This circumstance remains undocumentedly unrefuted».

Why did he again ignore the prompt response provided by the diocese of Chiclayo?

 

Who is the victims’ lawyer

Moreover, already since last April, Elise Ann Allen documented on “Crux” that the lawyer Ricardo Coronado-Arrascue was the one who steered the accusations of the three Peruvian sisters toward the future Leo XIV.

He is a former priest, a pro-conservative figure, laicized for sexual harassment (or in any case for a “crime against the sixth commandment”), who nourishes a historic grudge against the current pontiff.

The journalist actually contacted some seminarians who trained under Coronado-Arrascue when he was a member of the Augustinians, who recount a pattern of sexually inappropriate and aggressive behavior toward adult seminarians under his supervision.

Furthermore, a connection has emerged between Coronado-Arrascue and the “Sodalitium Christianae Vitae” (SCV), as a personal friend of many members and the founder Luis Fernando Figari, as well as a regular visitor of the institute where physical abuses occurred.

Back then these witnesses already claimed that Coronado-Arrascue’s decision to publicly accuse Prevost of a cover-up was due to his role in the ousting of Bishop José Antonio Eguren from the SCV. They also said that the accusations brought by the three abused sisters did not involve Prevost until Coronado-Arrascue appeared as their defense attorney starting in May 2024.

 

Victims satisfied with Prevost’s actions

Just yesterday, the “National Catholic Reporter” confirmed Crux’s investigation by directly interviewing one of the three Peruvian sisters, Ana María Quispe Díaz.

The woman stated that she initially had no complaint against Prevost and, indeed, was pleased with her meeting with the future pope.

Only when Coronado-Arrascue volunteered to represent the sisters for free did they begin to accuse Prevost of a cover-up, turning the matter into a nationally famous case.

In hindsight, Quispe Díaz says in the interview, she and her sisters suspect they were exploited mainly to counter Coronado-Arrascue’s legal troubles. «He didn’t really want to help us, we are convinced. We know he is involved in some mess».

Regarding Prevost, the woman explained that she contacted him at the beginning of 2020 to report the groping she suffered from a priest of the diocese; because of the Covid-19 pandemic they spoke by phone and Prevost «asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church, encouraged me to file a civil complaint and said he would go with me to file the complaint, if necessary».

In April 2022 Quispe Díaz, together with her sisters, physically met Robert Prevost in his office and the woman remembers the meeting as extremely positive. «At the moment Prevost spoke to us, we thought “Wow, he is listening to us”», she recounted.

Only in July 2024, two years later, were the three victims convinced by Coronado-Arrascue that Prevost had mishandled their case. «He was opening my eyes and at that moment I began to cry», confesses Ana María Quispe Díaz. From that moment on Prevost became the target of their accusations.

In particular, Coronado-Arrascue began to pressure the sisters so that they would further promote their accusations in the media, especially through the popular Peruvian program “Cuarto Poder”, which seized the opportunity to attack Prevost.

After the election to the papacy, the journalist who authored the piece, Sol Carreño, retracted the accusations stating that the diocese of Chiclayo had not provided all the information in time about the measures taken in response to the abuse accusations. Adding: «Unfortunately it seems that some people have taken advantage of these women’s difficult situation to produce an alternative ending».

Coronado-Arrascue is no longer the sisters’ lawyer since August 2024 because the Peruvian bishops revoked his status as canonist due to the accusations of sexual abuse. The former priest rejects the accusations as false.

In September 2024 Coronado-Arrascue “handed” the case of the three sisters to the discredited U.S. network “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests“ (SNAP) which still carries forward the same accusations.

 

Steered accusations and manipulated victims

Considering the ties between Coronado-Arrascue and the Sodalitium, it is clear why various investigative journalists have always maintained that the campaign against Leo XIV was orchestrated by the Peruvian institute itself.

«This defamatory campaign was launched by the “Sodalitium” for revenge», stated Pedro Salinas. «It had no factual basis, other than the fact that the victims existed and the priests were predators, but Prevost, as is known and documented, acted, he did not cover up».

Furthermore, Leo XIV’s words stand out in his recent first interview when he spoke about the matter concerning him: «There was a lot of manipulation of the case». The sisters «were victimized and re-victimized».