Priest Abuse Survivor Network Decries New Pope For Link To Ousted McGrath, Other Cases

CHICAGO — A network representing survivors of abuse by priests on Tuesday called on the newly seated leader of the Catholic Church to take action in sexual abuse claims against the clergy.

The organization laid out instances in which they say Robert Prevost—now Pope Leo XIV—seemingly ignored abuse allegations against priests he oversaw in a religious order—including, they say, former Providence Catholic High School president and priest Richard McGrath.

Prevost, who formerly served as provincial of the Augustinian Order in both the Midwest and worldwide, is linked to McGrath, and the organization alleges he was aware of allegations against him spanning more than a decade. Patch learned earlier this month that McGrath was still with the Order until December 2024, when he was dismissed for reasons not disclosed by the Order's current leaders.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said Prevost's history with McGrath, as well as other documented instances, "underscore longstanding concerns about his failure to act responsibly in the face of credible allegations.

"This is the underground story of Prevost," said Peter Isely, a founder of SNAP and its current global affairs chair. "This is the side of him and his management and his decisions that we're finally being able to bring to light. Because it's about the whole man. That's what's important. And what we care about is what he has done or not done about the sexual abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church. Because now he is the one responsible for that. Him and him alone."

Prevost served as provincial of the Midwest Augustinians from 1999 to 2001, and then head of the order worldwide from 1999 to 2013. He then went on to become a bishop in Peru and also led bishops from 2014 to 2023.

SNAP spokesperson and former seminarian James Egan spoke about Prevost's connection to McGrath.

"A couple of weeks ago, when Robert Prevost walked out of the balcony at St. Peter's, the world, understandably, was celebrating the first American pope" Egan said Tuesday. "And people here in Chicago were excited that there was a man from our city now leading the entire global Catholic Church. But what do you think the reaction was of the victims that were brutalized by the Augustinian Order that Prevost headed for several years? What was their feeling when this man walked out?"

Egan said Prevost's handling of clergy sexual abuse cases shows "a pattern of inaction, of covering up abuse, of mishandling cases, of not following church policies, and endangering children, not protecting children, or having any sort of public motivation displayed to protect children."

Accusations against McGrath were numerous over more than a decade, Patch has previously reported. Prevost was the sitting head of Augustinians worldwide, when parents of a Providence Catholic High School student penned an anonymous letter with allegations of McGrath massaging students, and watching boys change in the locker rooms. The parents threatened to sue at that time, and wanted action taken against McGrath.

Allegations against McGrath weren't made public until 2017, when a female student reported that she had witnessed the priest viewing child pornography on his cell phone—a device that McGrath never handed over to investigators and which has never surfaced.

As word spread of the claims against him, McGrath abruptly retired in December 2017, then reportedly moved to a friary in Hyde Park. Months later, he was AWOL from that facility—"unlawfully absent" from the Augustinian Order. A source in 2018 told Patch that McGrath had left the order after conflict surrounding the scandal, because he had felt bullied and unsupported by the order.

Later, in 2018, another man would call McGrath's successor Rev. John Merkelis, accusing McGrath and one other priest of molesting him. The man ultimately recanted, but the Sun-Times reports that police reports detailed the man said McGrath would enter the boys' locker room, standing and talking with them as they showered. In a deposition, McGrath said he did not recall doing that.

When questioned under oath regarding the child pornography accusation, McGrath invoked his Fifth Amendment right, declining to answer to avoid self-incrimination.

Both McGrath and the order which runs the school were previously sued by former student Robert Krankvich, who alleged in 2018 that he had been raped by McGrath as a teen. The lawsuit was settled in 2023, with the school and Order paying Krankvich $2 million.

Krankvich died in April 2025, at the age of 43. His death, attorney Marc Pearlman said, was believed to be the result of long-lasting effects of substance abuse stemming from his sexual abuse. Though he had struggled with mental health and had attempted to take his own life previously—both facts Krankvich had publicly disclosed amid his pursuit of justice—his death was not suicide, Pearlman said. Ultimately, damage to his heart and liver were believed to be factors in his death.

"Robert, despite all of his challenges and his inability to see himself as a brave, heroic individual for coming forward, he was exactly that," said Pearlman, with Frost Pearlman LLC. "Unfortunately, he was never able to see himself in that light. For him to come forward, use his name and his likeness, and speak publicly about this, was a testament to who he is, and that he cared more about children and the safety of children, than he did about his own well-being."

At the time of reporting on the settlement in 2023, the Order was said to have been nearing expulsion of McGrath. In a deposition during the lawsuit, McGrath told lawyers he believed the order was trying to expel him, "because I left on my own without their approval," Egan said.

A statement issued by Rev. Pizzo, a superior in the Provincial Council of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, provided to Patch on May 6 clarifies that McGrath had still been a part of the order until late-2024.

"As soon as the Augustinians were made aware of the allegation against Father McGrath in December of 2017, the Order took action with local authorities," the statement from Rev. Pizzo reads.

"Richard McGrath was officially dismissed from the Augustinians in December 2024. Richard McGrath’s whereabouts are unknown to the Augustinians."

In 2024, the Midwest province of the Augustinians released their first list of credibly accused clergy.

"McGrath is still not on that list," Egan said Tuesday.

"They claimed that McGrath was dismissed from the Augustinian order," he said. "But in a statement from their lawyer, the grounds for dismissal, 'had nothing to do with any allegations of sexual abuse.'

"So here today in 2025, McGrath is still a Catholic priest," Egan said. "He may have been dismissed from the Augustinian order, but not because of the allegations of decades of child abuse that he engaged in while leading a Catholic high school in New Lenox, Illinois. Prevost inherited this case. Prevost has a personal connection to New Lenox. And still, the Augustinians have not publicly acknowledged that McGrath has abused children."

In his leadership roles both midwestern and global, SNAP argues, Prevost was responsible for addressing all abuse claims within the order.

"He's essentially the CEO of the global Augustinians," Egan said. "Every case that came forward to the Augustinians was his responsibility to was his responsibility to follow even the meager church protocols and laws that began to be put in place following 2002. And yet, given this record, it doesn't seem that Prevost prioritized protecting children at all in this role."

SNAP's full press conference can be viewed below.

McGrath's Stay At Same Hyde Park Friary As Another Accused Priest

Also noted in SNAP's press conference Tuesday was John Ray, a since-defrocked priest who has been accused of molesting more than a dozen children. Ray, SNAP said, was allowed to relocate to a Hyde Park friary just a block from St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School.

Ray is accused of molesting at least 13 children spanning from 1974 to 1991, according to Illinois Attorney General records. He has not been convicted of any crime, nor is he on any sex offender registry, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Ray has stated publicly that, after he was accused, the Archdiocese put out a call asking for church organizations willing to take him in. His initial residence had been torn down, he said.

"They’re the only one that responded,” Ray told the Sun-Times, of the Augustinians.

In 2000, Ray moved to St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park, where McGrath would also live in 2017.

"That is to say, the Augustinians proactively sought out an opportunity to take Ray in, knowing they're right next to an elementary school," Egan said Tuesday.

McGrath also went AWOL from that facility—"unlawfully absent" from the Augustinian Order.

A lawyer for the Order has stated that Cardinal Francis George was behind Ray's relocation to the friary, and that the Order was pressured to accommodate him. Ray refutes that.

“He’s the one who gave me permission to stay there,” Ray told the Chicago Sun-Times, of Prevost, in a recent interview.

'My heart just dropped'

SNAP on Tuesday also shared new whistleblower documents from the Diocese of Chiclayo (Peru) that substantiate allegations made by survivors and detailed in a formal complaint submitted under Vos estis lux mundi on March 25, 2025. They say these documents directly implicate Prevost in the mishandling of abuse reports during his time as Bishop of Chiclayo.

SNAP representatives were present at St. Peter's when word came of the new pope's naming, and a heavy reality settled in.

"Just over a week ago, actually, the four of us were in and we were actually in St. Peter's when the white smoke went up," said SNAP's Sarah Pearson. "And we were all sitting together when we learned that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, would be the next leader of the Catholic Church. And I remember sitting there, and when we saw him come out on the balcony and we heard his name, my heart just dropped. Because I knew of the survivors in Chicago who suffered under his leadership because of the negligence in handling of their own reports..."

SNAP wrote to Pope Leo XIV on the day of his election saying, “You can end the abuse crisis — the only question is, will you?"

In an open letter, the group called for the new pope to do the following in the first 100 days:

• Establish an independent Global Truth Commission with full Vatican cooperation;
• Sign Universal Zero Tolerance Law into canon law;
• Submit to International Legal Agreements mandating transparency and accountability;
• Establish a Reparations Fund supported by church assets;
• And create a Global Survivors Council with the authority to oversee and enforce compliance.

"I think we're all longing for Pope Leo to stand up and do what is right," said Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President. "We were waiting for Francis. We were for Pope John Paul II. There's nothing wrong with wanting the Pope to do the right thing.

"... it is our hope, that Pope Leo does the right thing. is our gut and our experience that say that he will need the pressure. And what we are after is we want to protect kids from being raped in the Catholic church. We want to protect children from having to learn how to cope with this. I'm 55 years old. I'm still learning how to cope with having been raped by a priest as a young child."